DIRK
by Seijinter
Summary: Kyran Yoot. A lost soul of Earth was dragged to another world known as Remnant. Caught between the many factions, Kyran will be struggling physically and mentally. Will he be able to live another person's life and find lasting allies to survive? Most importantly, will this little butterfly unknowingly whip up a hurricane? The EASY answer is "yes". Strong language and violence. (AU)
1. Into the glowing eye of the storm

**24th August 2015**

 **AN: Hello! I'm Seijinter and I am currently looking to improve my creativity and writing quality. This is my very first fanfiction, so any constructive criticisms are welcome. This chapter may seem not very inspired, but I'm still learning, and just slowly warming up to writing, so please give my story a chance.**

 **I thank you for reading, and I hope you'll enjoy the chapter.**

 **EDIT (3/10/2015): Well, I have an editor now so I'm taking advantage of the knowledge he's imparting on me. Hence, this chapter has been edited quite a bit to enhance the story.**

 **EDIT (21/01/2016): This chapter has been edited again with my editor to smooth it out. We've also chipped off some unnecessary parts in the chapter and hopefully it's a more engaging read and much less of a bore.**

/* - */

DIRK

Chapter 1 - Into the glowing eye of the storm

"Oooh my lee-too boy! I'll miss you!" Kyran's mother cooed affectionately as she cupped both her hands on both sides of her son's face. As a 17 year old, Kyran continued to maintain the spry physique from his young childhood. His black hair and eyes reflects his Chinese heritage but is contrasted with the bright colours of his clothes which consisted of an orange shirt and blue jeans.

And just like any other 17 year old who is about to embark on his journey to another country, it's still embarrassing to have their mothers fawn over them as if they are still 6. Despite how exasperated he feels, Kyran replied with a smile "Hm. Yeah, okay."

Not wholly satisfied with his reaction, his mother pouted,"Aaaw won't you miss me?"

 _Ugh, I hate it when she acts like this_ , Kyran thought as he watched his mother's dramatic antics, _It's not cute when it's your own mum who is doing this..._

Hearing an audible sigh, Kyran peered to the side and saw his younger sister rolling her eyes at the display. Probably thinking along the same lines as he is. Both of them have always been alike despite their age difference. He also let out a sigh and turned back to his mother.

"I know I'll be seeing you again, mum." Kyran repeated this sentence every time his mother asked him that same question. Knowing that she still expected some form of endearment, he hugged his mother and his sister, before giving his final goodbyes and proceeded through Australia's airport departure gates.

/* - */

'Family/surname: Yoot'

'Given names: Kyran Gahn-Yuhn'

'Passport number: ********'

'Flight number or name of ship: *****'

'Country where you will get off this flight: Tokyo Japan'

'What is your usual occupation?: Student'

'Nationality as shown on passport: Australian'

'Date of birth (DD/MM/YYYY): 24/11/1992'

...

'Signed: Kyran Yoot'

'Date signed (DD/MM/YYYY): 05/01/2010'

After finally finishing the card, Kyran let out yet another sigh and packed it away along with his pen. He once more looked around the interior of the plane. It's much smaller than the typical commercial planes that he was in during family trips, but he had chosen the cheapest airline he could find. So it's pretty much to his money's worth.

"Something wrong buddy?" spoke a voice next to Kyran.

He glanced to his left and was greeted by a Caucasian man with a pair of piercing blue eyes. Said blue eyes were underneath dirty blond eyebrows. The same coloured hair further above was short and spiked forwards, complementing the slightly tanned and chiseled face of the man. He wore a brown shirt with his sleeves rolled up and blue jeans. Appearing to Kyran as an average person.

After gathering the visual information of this stranger, Kyran answered with a shake of his head, "No, I'm fine." He then shrugged to the person and inquired, "Why? Is something supposed to be wrong?"

"Well, it's just that I couldn't help but notice you sighing beside me", the man gave a friendly smile and asked, "You going back to Japan?"

Kyran smiled a little at that, it wasn't the first time that a westerner mistook his ethical background. Trying to maintain the friendly mood, he gently corrected him, "First time to Japan, actually."

"Oh..." the man looked a little embarrassed. "Uh, so where are you from?"

"Are you asking about my ethnicity, where I was born, or where I was mostly raised?" Kyran immediately responded, feeling a little cheeky. Kyran knew that the man wasn't intentionally being rude like the other jerks that he had known back at home, but rather it was just his lack of cultural knowledge. This still didn't mean that Kyran can't have some fun at his expense.

The man blinked, his brain seemingly paused for a moment to register the questions before stumbling his response, "Uh, well um, ethnicity. I mean, what ethnic group do you belong to?"

"I'm Chinese," Kyran clearly stated, putting a lot of emphasis on his nationality due to his complicated background, "I'm born in Australia, but raised in Hong Kong."

"Oh...", the man paused before continuing, "Your English is really good," he said, appearing impressed, not noticing Kyran's smile becoming a little forced.

He then held out his right hand and strained a little awkwardly to the right due to the narrow space. "I'm Joshua, by the way," he briefly introduced himself.

"I'm Kyran," Kyran replied, shaking Joshua's hand firmly while still smiling. "I've actually spoken English my whole life." He gave Joshua some time to digest this before pleasantly continuing, "right now, I'm studying about human psychology as my major, but I'm still in my first year".

"Oh, w-well you sure picked an interesting course to study as your major," Joshua said hurriedly, he looked really tense and seemed eager to change the topic to avoid any further personal misunderstanding. "So why are you going to Japan?"

"I'm an exchange student," Kyran thought about leaving it at that but decided to give the poor man a bone by giving out his real reason, "but I just really want to experience the culture and language of Japan," he further admitted shamelessly. "I mean it's the birthplace of my favourite mangas and anime!"

Immediately taking the bait, Joshua laughed in relief, "Haha, same here! I'm also going there to have fun and get away from work!"

Kyran and Joshua conversed enthusiastically for a while, quickly finding similar hobbies and interests with each other. However, their discussion ended when Joshua excused himself to use the restroom. Even when he had returned, the momentum was lost and their dialogue was never picked up again.

/* - */

*Dong*

"Good morning ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking."

Kyran woke with a slight internal jolt. He struggled to open his eyes as it feels like it's dusted with sand. He rubbed them and blinked a few times, trying to get some moisture back into them. That proved a bit difficult as the blaring light from the window stabbed at his eyes every time he opened them, as if to declare very clearly that it was now morning.

"We'll be arriving shortly in Tokyo in about 30 minutes. The weather's pretty cold and windy there, and expect some small showers for the next few days", the captain continued, "I'd like to remind you to remain seated..."

Kyran tuned out from the remaining announcement since it's just the usual airline precaution. He quickly pressed the passenger button on the arm of his seat, desperately needing some water to rehydrate himself.

"You okay?" Joshua asked.

"Yeah, just feeling really thirsty," Kyran croaked.

A flight attendant quickly walks over.

"Sumimasen. Mizu arimasuka?", Joshua smoothly asks the attendant before Kyran could say anything.

"Yes. One moment please," the flight attendant replied in English before quickly walking away, leaving Joshua flushed with embarrassment.

"That's pretty good Japanese," Kyran complimented, trying to save his face.

Joshua smiled at the praise, "Yeah, I studied Japanese a bit before. Gotta take every opportunity to practice it."

"Well, sounds like you're all set up on the language side of things." Kyran said cheerfully, maintaining the mood.

Joshua just smiled and looked out the window beside his seat.

"The local time upon arrival will be 10:35am. Please enjoy the rest of the flight, and thank you for flying with us. We look forward to flying with you again."

*Dong*

A soft shadow leaning over Kyran informed him that the flight attendant had returned with his water. After saying a quick 'thank you', Kyran drank the cup of water in small sips.

Twenty minutes later, Kyran's seat began to shake. Based on his previous experiences in other flights, Kyran wasn't too alarmed and considered it as nothing more than air turbulence. But gradually, the mild tremors of the plane escalated in magnitude. Surprised, though not panicking, Kyran looked around and saw that the entire plane was rattling loudly. He knew that the plane was to be landing soon, however, the amount of convulsion seemed a bit too violent.

*Dong*

"Brace! Brace!" the captain's voice yelled overhead.

*Dong*

Just as the captain delivered the last syllable, Kyran felt himself lurching sideways to his right and then suddenly felt his stomach drop. He struggled against his panic as he reached forward, crossed his arms and gripped the seat in front of him.

The whole world shook and rotated around him. Feeling a bit sick, Kyran shut his eyes and just concentrated on breathing. He felt the air enter through his mouth and travelled down to his throat. Its cool sensation filled his lungs and expanded his diaphragm. He held it there for a moment, concentrating on it before redirected the air backwards and breathed it out.

He was taught this years ago while training in his sixth year in Taekwondo. He was also told that this was how 'hei' was generated.

Kyran didn't quite believe in the existence of this mystical energy which was also known as 'qi' to most Chinese people, but what mattered was that right now, this helped him stay calm.

As his mind cleared up a bit from his initial panic, Kyran continued to maintain his posture and concentrated in hearing his surrounding. But all he could hear was the screeching of both Human and metal. Then, with a lurch that ripped Kyran's seat out, the plane seemed to have finally landed in the bottom of its freefall. Instinctively, Kyran curled up into a ball to protect himself as he was sent flying above the other seats while still strapped to his own.

He then felt a harsh impact on his back that caused his head to whip backwards and smacked against something hard. He blacked out.

/* - */

Kyran woke with a start and stared in confusion around his unfamiliar surroundings. _What…where am I?_ he thought. His eyes took in what little light there was. Still dazed from the impact, he gradually remembered the events before his loss of consciousness and quickly took hold of himself. His entire body felt numb at first, most likely from inactivity, before it was assaulted with a sensation of thousands of needles prickling him. His head is also throbbing with pain, but apart from that, he was miraculously unharmed.

Kyran looked about more clearly and the first thing that greeted him was the rows of heads and arms hanging down from above. The plane was apparently flipped upside down. There wasn't much light at all, most of it were coming from a low glow from the floor of the plane above. Making everything seem like a dark forest of silhouettes.

The second thing he noticed was how unbearably quiet it was. And then third was, as his sense of touch returned, was how sore his neck felt. His back felt wet as well and his seat was absolutely soaked.

 _Wait_ , he stopped his train of thoughts, _it's wet?_

Concentrating harder, Kyran could hear water rushing into the plane from further up.

 _How did I miss that before?_ Kyran wondered, but that was irrelevant in the face of the current situation.

He can feel the cold grasp of fear clutching at his core, and it almost succeeded in paralysing him. With great difficulty, he forced himself to think rationally.

 _Fear arises from not knowing something. So right now, I know I'm in a plane, most likely crashed into the ocean near Japan. I_ could _wait for rescue…,_ Looking around again, he noticed the water level has risen subtly and corrected himself. _Scratch that, I'll need to meet the rescue team half way_ , Kyran jumped to action, with nothing but survival in his mind.

After failing to get up, courtesy of his seatbelt, he quickly unstrapped himself from the chair, rolled over and stood up shakily. His feet splashed into the chilly water that was filling in.

Thinking quickly, he looked under his seat and found the life jacket. He putted it on and inflated it. At the same time, he considered his next course of action.

 _The_ _water level doesn't seem to be rising_ too _fast. Is the plane intact? Doesn't matter, limited oxygen anyway. This plane has inflatable life rafts right? The more floating devices I could find, the faster I can get to the surface. How far down the ocean am I? The water might crush in from pressure._ Kyran grunted in frustration, _I need to act quickly._

After coming to a conclusion, the water has already risen halfway up to his knees. Looking up again, Kyran identified where his seat was supposed to be, and next to it, is Joshua.

Joshua hung limply and halfway out of his chair already. Only the fastened seat belt which are now straining against his thighs was keeping him from plummeting face first into the water.

"Joshua!" Kyran called while he waded his way underneath his acquaintance. No response. Jumping up, Kyran grabbed Joshua's two arms and let gravity do the rest. Joshua slid free as Kyran splashed back into the water. He then braced himself as the man's body landed on him, he was briefly able to hold the weight before losing balance and tumbled into the water.

He got up as soon as possible to avoid staying submerged into the ice cold water. Joshua, on the other hand, woke up in panic. He flailed and splashed around the shallow water, coughing and spluttering.

Wading through, Kyran firmly gripped Joshua's shoulder trying to calm him. Joshua, still panicking, pushed himself away from Kyran and continued to paddle wildly.

Hoping that his voice might help, Kyran called out to Joshua. "Hey…Hey! Joshua!"

Joshua stilled.

"It's ok. You're fine." Kyran continued reassuringly. "It's me, Kyran."

Getting up and turning around slowly, Joshua faced Kyran, wild eyed and clearly terrified. Contrarily, Kyran himself felt relieved that Joshua was alive.

"Wh- what happened?" Joshua asked, while still breathing uneasily.

Gesturing vaguely around him, Kyran replied, "The plane crashed. We're in the ocean I think."

There was a moment of silence as Joshua digested his words.

"No," he said. "This can't be happening…it can't..."

Joshua placed his hands on his head as he took in his surroundings, waters splashed as he was turning. The water caught Kyran's attention. Only now noticing, that it seemed to glow a soft teal colour, sometimes fading into a greener shade.

The water may seem to be from the ocean, but it wasn't deep enough to have that sort of colour. The stranger part is the slight glow it gives off, as if there is ambient light within the waters, while it was dark everywhere else. However, there wasn't enough time to further analyse this.

"Joshua, listen. We've got to get out of here," Kyran said urgently. "The water's filling up. We're lucky that the plane didn't break in two or we'll be drowning already. I'll try and wake everyone up…We're going to get out of this." The last part sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than to comfort Joshua.

Kyran took a deep breath and blew into the whistle in his life jacket, hoping that someone is still alive. The resulting shrill scream of the whistle had Joshua covering his ears, and his eyes squeezing shut in distress.

"Heeey! Anyone okay!? Hello!?" Kyran yelled. "Everyone, wake up! We've crashed and we need to get out of here!"

Even to his own ears, his words sounded awkward as his voice echoed down the plane.

"But don't panic!" he added hastily.

Not one person stirred, and a dreaded thought hit him. _Is everyone dead? That can't be right. Why is Joshua and I the only two to survive?_

Kyran heard a sudden cracking noise and was subsequently sprinkled with water. Stumbling back, he realized that the windows of the plane were breaking. Water is now leaking in from all sides of the plane. That meant that their chances of survival had dwindled.

"What should we do!?" asked Joshua, panicking once more.

 _There's no time_ , Kyran thought, _I don't know how to get everyone out. All I can do is save myself and Joshua._

The thought didn't sit well with Kyran, but there's nothing more that can be done.

"Grab two life jackets!" Kyran yelled, pointing up to their location. "Quick! They're underneath the seats!"

Already climbing up to the seats above, Kyran tried to avoid making too much contact with the bodies. He used the armrests of the seats as steps to climb up. Muttering his apologies, he climbed close enough to reach the 'underside' of the seat. Gingerly, he moved the legs of the seat's occupant away and took out another life jacket. Looking back down to see how Joshua was doing, Kyran found him just standing there looking confused.

"Joshua! What are you doing!? Jump!" Kyran exclaimed, a little frustrated at Joshua's lack of self preservation. Thinking on his feet, he decided on a change of plan.

"Never mind!" he yelled. "Here, take this!"

Kyran threw the newly acquired life jacket at Joshua, hoping his sudden action would break him out of his trance. His ploy worked as Joshua reacted in time to catch the incoming jacket and started to put it on. Although his reaction was a little slow and his mind still seemed to be preoccupied by the current situation, Joshua was able to properly put on and inflate the jacket. Being pressed for time, Kyran immediately threw another jacket at Joshua.

This time, Joshua was ready and had caught the second jacket smoothly. He then sent a confused look to Kyran.

"Inflate that one too! We can use two life jackets to help us float to the surface faster!" Kyran yelled out his plan over the rushing sounds of water.

After he had acquired his second life jacket, he plunged back into the cold water below, attempting to land on his feet. Unfortunately, his life jacket conspired against him. The air inside kept Kyran floating and constantly tipped his balance, refusing to let him sink down enough to find purchase on the 'top' of the plane.

"Kyran!" Kyran heard his name cried out and watched Joshua half swim and half tip-toe over to him. "Kyran! You ok? Come on, let's get to the emergency exits."

Kyran nodded, relieved that Joshua seemed to be thinking clearly now. He held up the spare life jacket and pulled the inflation string before swimming after Joshua. However, before they even swam a meter, a sudden torrent of water crashed from the front of the plane and pushed them back. Both survivors are now being propelled away from the exits as the rushing water violently smashed them against the seats. Kyran himself can feel its impact and felt the overpowering helplessness of the situation.

Over the sounds of the rushing water, a loud metallic creaking could be heard. Much to the horror of the two survivors, the plane began tilting. It's head moving to face the surface, and the tail shifting down to the sea bed.

Gradually changing the course of their descent down the length of the plane into a complete free fall.

After what seemed like an eternity, the two survivors finally landed and was ironically cushioned by the water flooding in. Although it was not part of Kyran's plan, they are now being floated up towards the head of the plane instead.

Loose luggages fell around them, some even hitting Kyran and Joshua, but thankfully, they were mostly light hand bags and were not heavy enough to harm either of them.

"KYRAN!"

Kyran turned to Joshua who abruptly yelled over the downpour of water and the occasional metallic creaking.

"YEAH!?" he shouted back. He swam closer to Joshua, while avoiding being caught by the seats that were sinking down past him into the watery depths below.

"We'll only get two chances!" Joshua continued yelling. "We'll need to open the emergency doors as we float up to them!"

Not quite understanding what he was saying, Kyran stared back blankly to which Joshua elaborated further.

"Once we pass the emergency doors, we'll only have the doors at the front to get out! Don't mi-"

Joshua's explanation was cut short as some of the windows finally yielded to the growing pressure of the sea. The two survivors ducked their heads down and covered themselves with their arms as the pieces pelted around them. Immediately, the water began to rise faster.

While covering his head, Kyran caught a glimpse of light passing into the water. He quickly realized that they had just missed the emergency exit and had to restrain himself from diving into the water. Instead of chasing after an exit that's already beyond their reach, they should instead focus on the front exits above them. Kyran began climbing using the seats as a makeshift ladder. He heard a deep intake of breath which was followed by a loud splash. After turning his head, he realized that Joshua had dove underwater to chase after the emergency exit. Knowing that it was a futile effort, Kyran refocused himself to the climb. After reaching a quarter way through, Joshua resurfaced from the water. He appeared to have not given up and was about to dive back in until he noticed Kyran's absence.

"Kyran!?" Joshua shouted frantically. "Shit! Kyran where are you!?"

"Up here!" Kyran shouted down from above.

Joshua looked up and gave him a perplexed expression, "Wha- what the fuck are you doing?"

"We missed the first exit already! The water's coming in too fast! If we can get to the other one quickly, we'll have time to actually open the damn thing!" Kyran continued climbing and heard Joshua scrambling after him from below.

Slowly, but steadily, the two survivors scaled their way towards the top. The climb taxed much of their stamina, but they forced themselves to push on, fueled by their will to survive. Kyran tried not to look at the bodies he was climbing over, and upon reaching what he estimated was halfway through, he suddenly lost his footing and looked down.

Below him is the rising water, glowing with the colour of sea green tinted with blue. Swallowing the seats and their occupants into the blurry depths below. Despite this encroaching threat coming toward him, Kyran couldn't help but notice another disturbing sight elsewhere. Beside him was a woman who was crushed by the seat in front of her. Blood can be seen still oozing from the body, covering what little parts that weren't crushed. Only half of her face, her shoulder and the arm that followed were visible. Her eyes were wide open, looking upwards, and coincidentally stared straight at Kyran. The combination of the low lighting and horrible way that the woman died gave Kyran the impression that the woman was, perhaps, glaring accusingly at him, blaming him for her misfortune. It didn't help that her eye lid was missing, it made her eyes seemed unnaturally big.

Thoroughly unnerved, Kyran made to reach the next seats above him. This was a little more difficult as the seat that collapsed on the woman robbed Kyran of his next step. Turning around, he planted one of his feet on the middle isle's seat to use as his step up 'ladder' instead. As he did so, he felt a sudden tight grip on his other leg, preventing him from pulling himself up. Thinking it was Joshua, he looked down, only to find the woman he had presumed dead clinging tightly to his trousers with her only free hand.

Panicking, Kyran yelped and jerked his trapped leg. But the woman wouldn't let go, eyes still locked firmly onto Kyran's, looking as if to invade his soul with her sight alone. Kicking out with his other leg, he finally broke free and scampered up to the next seat in fright. He then looked back down.

The woman's body remained immobile and was left exactly the same way it was before it grabbed Kyran's leg. In fact, it looked as if it hadn't even moved before...

Still shivering from the experience, Kyran tried to calm himself, pausing to steady his breathing. A tap on his leg set him back to panick. He started kicking again, before realizing almost too late that it was Joshua who was below him.

"Woa- Hey!" Joshua exclaimed. "Watch it! What are you doing!?"

After a slight pause, Kyran replied quietly, "I'm.. I'm sorry."

His apology was almost inaudible over the water, he then muttered, "Never mind. Let's keep going."

Looking back one last time at the haunting corpse, Kyran turned his attention upwards as he resumed the climb.

/* - */

 _Finally_ , Kyran thought wearily as he reached the last chair. Surprisingly, they had encountered less passengers as they reached to the top. He hauled himself over the chair and turned around to see Joshua's hand just over the lip of the edge. But just as quickly as the hand gripped the seat, it began slipping. Kyran immediately felt a chill running down his spine as the fingers disappeared one by one as if in slow motion. A drop from here could kill Joshua!

"No!" Kyran heard Joshua's cry and threw himself toward the edge to quickly catch his hand. He grasped Joshua's fingers, but it was wet from the seawater and it slipped through his grip. He could only watch as Joshua vanished from view, stupefied by the sudden turn of events. Then filled with guilt, Kyran was unable to look down for Joshua as he dreads of what he might see. The broken body of the woman from before was still fresh in his mind...

"Kyran!"

Kyran jolted as he heard Joshua's call and picked up the courage to peer over the edge. There was Joshua, thankfully still alive, dangling on with his right hand to another seat below.

"Well what are you waiting for? Pull me up!"

Spurred by his words, Kyran hurried down to Joshua and firmly grabbed his arm. Straining with all his might, Kyran supported and pulled Joshua up and over the edge.

"Holy shit!" breathed Joshua. "Thank you!"

Nodding, Kyran slumped down on the empty seat, desperately in need of a rest. Joshua, while utterly drained from the climb, attempted to move once more to the top.

"No," Kyran placed his hand upon Joshua's arm. "Not yet. We'll need to catch our breath first."

Joshua looked as if he's about to say something, eager to get out of the plane. However, Kyran pre-empted him and said, "We have a while before the water floods up to us. We'll need the energy. Save your strength."

Hesitantly, Joshua agreed with his advice and slumped next to him.

As they rested, Kyran's mind was allowed to wonder. _We've been here for a long time already_ , he thought. _How far down did we sink? Will we make it up before our breath runs out?_

His eyes, like his mind, moved around and gazed at the opposite side of the plane. He noticed that the emergency exit on the other side was already opened. Water flooded in and cascaded down the seats below. The water gleamed with that eerie glow, the light from the floor of the plane still working miraculously, making the teal colour more prominent. Even the water that was currently pouring in seemed to be luminescent.

 _It must be a trick of the light_ , Kyran thought, seemingly mesmerized by the glowing waterfall. What isn't an illusion is the level the water has risen to. He decided that it is nearly time to move, despite his fatigue.

Having lost their spare life jackets, both Kyran and Joshua decided to salvage one each to replace their old ones. Kyran looked 'under' his current seat, but found it vacant. He looked to Joshua and Joshua looked back at him, announcing their find at the same time.

"It's missing."

"It's gone."

Apparently, other people had survived and already left the plane, which explains why the emergency exit adjacent to them is already open. Refusing to waste time idling in light of this, Kyran took charge. He began climbing up to the seat above.

"Get the ones above us!" Kyran shouted and Joshua quickly followed suit.

Fortunately, the seats above still have the life jackets inside. The two survivors grabbed them and inflated the jackets.

Now fully prepared, they both exchanged meaningful looks and nodded once to each other before turning towards the emergency exit. Kyran tipped his toes to release the door's locks by turning the handle, and pushed.

The door remained stubbornly in place, allowing water to seep in, but not opening much at all. Joshua, being the tallest of the two, switched places with Kyran as his tall frame gave a better angle and leverage. Kyran supported him by pushing against his back and they both strained against the door.

The door abruptly gave way, bending outwards and was then torn away into the ocean. The sudden lack of resistance threw Joshua and Kyran off balance. They fell forwards, only to be pushed back again from the torrent gushing in from the doorway.

Kyran landed safely on a seat, arms instinctively grabbing it for dear life. Joshua, however, was thrown down the length of the plane.

Alarmed, Kyran looked over the edge of his seat with wide eyes.

"Joshua!" cried Kyran.

Whether this was fortunate, the water level has risen considerably now, enough to cushion Joshua's fall. He quickly resurfaced due to his life jacket, his spare floating besides him.

"I'm fine!" Joshua called out reassuringly.

Right before Kyran breathed out in relief, he noticed another movement coming from below Joshua. The water glowed and illuminated the lower levels. There, he sees all of the victims that they had passed over in their climb to the top, no longer alive but Kyran could feel their gaze concentrate on Joshua as they reach out to him. Taken back by the unnatural sight, Kyran was unable to let out a cry of warning and could only helplessly watch Joshua look up at him in puzzlement before a hand rose out of the water and pulled him down.

There was a brief struggle in the water and Joshua was in view for only a second, before disappearing into the watery depths altogether. Then, as if they were one entity, the corpses turned their lifeless eyes on Kyran. He quickly shrank away from the edge with a mixture of fear, and guilt. He couldn't go help Joshua, lest he joins his fate.

He's had enough of all this, he just wanted to be anywhere but the plane, and the way out is right beside him. Turning around and bracing himself against the ocean's onslaught, Kyran took a few steadying breaths before inhaling to his lung's maximum capacity. Shutting his eyes, he strained himself through the invading water, battling against the unnaturally glowing flood. He reached out and braced his hands on the outside of the plane, pulling himself out. And with a final heave, Kyran was through.

The air in his life jacket propelled him upwards even as his legs kicked to speed himself to the surface. His arms were tired so he kept them to his side to make himself more streamlined. Kyran's eyes remained shut tightly, to prevent the seawater from stinging his eyes. Besides, lighting will be minimum anyway.

As if to prove him wrong, a blinding light bore brightly through his eyelids and he was dazzled. Momentarily distracted, his kicking stopped and all he could see was the red of the underside of his eyelids. It was very tempting to open his eyes now to identify what was shining at him.

 _Could it be a searching party with flood lights?_ Kyran wondered. _Did they see me?_

Kyran pondered for a few moments before an aching in his chest brought him back to his senses. His lungs screamed for fresh air and, as a result , it felt as if he was burning inside.

Desperate, Kyran tried to swim upwards, but his body wouldn't move. He could feel the muscles get pumped with energy but they failed to move and respond, almost as if they were held there. Kyran panicked, his thoughts going back to the other victims of the plane crash. Had they somehow caught up with him? How are they even moving? What did they want with him?

Kyran's thoughts slowly stilled as he began losing consciousness. The light beyond his eyelids seemed to shine brighter as he felt himself drift upwards with increasing speed. The floating feeling barely registered in his mind before he could remember no more.

/* - */

 **AN: I hope you have enjoyed this. I myself had fun writing it. Obviously I don't actually know how well received this will be. But if it isn't too much trouble, I'm hoping that you would leave a comment to tell me how I'm doing.**

 **I know, there's nothing to do with RWBY right now, but this is only the first chapter. I'll be slowly building up to it as we get deeper into the story. This also allows me more time to wait for more episodes from Rooster Teeth. It's always better to have more information and lore first before getting too deep into the story. I hope you understand.**

 **Until next time.**


	2. Forest fights

**31st August 2015**

 **AN: Well finally finished this chapter. I have to say, it's difficult to put into words a lot of the sequences I want happening in this chapter, and I've found a new appreciation for all those writers out there that could do it so well. I've always had problems expressing myself so this was particularly difficult for me.**

 **I put a lot of effort in this though, so please, enjoy the chapter. Please leave a review too! Anything's fine, I just want to know how I did.**

 **Also, check out my profile on the status of this story.**

 **EDIT (26/01/2016): Polished the chapter. Little bits here and there.**

/* - */

 **DIRK**

Chapter 2 - Forest fights

 _"Oooh my lee-too boy! I'll miss you!"_

 _"Hm. Yeah, okay."_

 _"Aaaw won't you miss me?"_

 _Ugh, I hate it when she acts like this. It's not cute when it's your own mother who is doing this..._

 _"I know I'll be seeing you again anyway, mum."_

Gahn-Yuhn Yoot woke as dawn's light flooded his room, eyes blurry and his mind still muddled from his strange dream. It had been vivid, yet it wasn't a nightmare or anything significant to him. Quickly disregarding that train of thought, he got up and did his morning rituals. Today's routine is going to be no different. Breakfast with the Master and Wyatt, meditation at the waterfalls, training with Wyatt under Master's instructions, lunch with Master and Wyatt, a bit of free time, dinner, meditation, sleep.

Sighing, Gahn entered the living room and took a seat next to Wyatt.

"Good morning Master, good morning Wyatt." Gahn greeted curtly. The Master nodded in acknowledgement.

"Good morning dude," droned Wyatt, bored. "I hope something exciting happens, like Grimm or something."

Gahn merely nodded, while the Master peered sternly over his shoulder at Wyatt.

Just another day in the Vytal wilds.

/* - */

Having finished his lunch, Gahn-Yuhn Yoot had free time to do whatever he liked, so long as he gets back before dinner. Quickly counting off his responsibilities, he figured he'll just stay at home and read the new book he got. Or maybe he should go training at the waterfall. He was allowed unsupervised training now that he's learnt so much more control over his body and Aura. His Aura's getting stronger and he could tell that he's very close to finding his Semblance. Very _frustratingly_ close. But he had yet to tap into his Semblance.

 _Besides,_ Gahn thought, _the waterfall is my favo-_

His internal musings were cut short as he felt a firm tap on his shoulder. Turning around, Gahn saw Wyatt, a tiger Faunus and the senior student under the Master.

"Hey Turtle! Let's go to town and hang out!" beamed Wyatt. As if to embody his carefree attitude, his orange and black striped tail hung completely relaxed behind him.

"First, I told you that armadillos and turtles are very different, _Kitty_. And second, I won't be going with you. I'm busy." sighed Gahn. He didn't know why he had to explain it every day. He didn't know why he even bothered any more.

"Aw, you're no fun, man," Wyatt complained. "C'mon, I promise these guys will be nice. They have no problems with Faunus! It'll be fine! Hahaha!"

Wyatt laughed, slapping Gahn's back in what should be a friendly manner. Caught off guard, Gahn was sent to his hands and knees. For once, Gahn was thankful for his natural, leathery-pink plating on his back, otherwise he'd be mauled by Wyatt impressive strength. _At least this disgraceful body is good for_ something, Gahn thought.

Brushing aside the negative thoughts, he got up and dusted himself off. Looking back at the only friend that he ever knew, Gahn couldn't help but smile a little at Wyatt's antics. He's always so confident, friendly, loud, a little arrogant, and always, _always_ , getting into trouble. But Wyatt wouldn't be his brother otherwise.

Shaking his head and already regretting it, Gahn found himself dragged off on one of Wyatt's many wild adventures once again.

/* - */

He was flying. Or maybe just floating. Kyran couldn't tell. He couldn't feel movement, and he couldn't feel heat nor cold. A quick test told him he didn't have his sense of touch, his sense of sight, his hearing, nor is he even breathing. It was as if the whole world ceased to exist around him. The knowledge that he does not have any way to interact with the world around him, but yet still exist, was nothing short of mind-boggling.

 _That's if I still_ have _a brain_ , Kyran thought, slowly adapting to his new sense of existence.

 _Perfect. I'm dead,_ Kyran thought, sarcastically, strangely calm despite realizing his fate. _Shouldn't I be floating to heaven? Or be dragged down to hell? Where is Mr. Grim Reaper anyway? …Am I talking to myself?_

As Kyran continued his musing, he relaxed into a calm. Most people would think that being dead would mean overwhelming sadness, or maybe a feeling of content from being released from the world. Kyran felt neither of these. He couldn't die again, nor come to harm, so fear was definitely not what he felt. For the most part, he was just indifferent about his death. His emotions are completely mute.

He switched to his more physical senses. He felt something. Something like a tug, or a nagging feeling. For a brief moment, he also felt something pass through him. It seems his initial assessment of his inability to examine his surroundings was questionable. He didn't really 'feel' it so much as just 'knew' that something had passed through him.

Intrigued, Kyran pushed this new sense in what he presumed was outwards, seeing if he could 'see' anything else. Almost immediately, his new sense was able to track an object that was drifting away from him.

 _Was it the same thing that passed through me a few seconds ago?_ Kyran couldn't tell. What he _could_ tell was that this object 'felt' very familiar, and he was drawn to it. Kyran felt himself nearing the object even before he could contemplate how he could move. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, he allowed himself to drift closer, and 'feel' out the details of object.

A silhouette formed in his mind, painting a rough outline of a person. A suspicion floated to his mind, _This body is mine right? I mean I've just died, and I'm now a…what? A ghost? A soul? And the_ first _thing I feel is a body..._

As far as Kyran could tell, the person was a man with a fitter than average physique. A closer inspection identified mid length hair. It waved at him in slow motion, as if submerged in water, which made sense; he died drowning in the ocean. But something else, other than strands of hair, floated from the body. It hung around the body's neck. A dog tag. Kyran remembered getting this as a souvenir from an amusement park.

 _This is definitely me_ , Kyran thought, convinced.

 _Wait,_ a theory came to him. _What if I try reanimating my own corpse? After all, I am a ghost..._

Seeing as there's nothing else better to do, he might as well try _something_. But for a few seconds, Kyran took no action, thinking. _How am I going to possess myself? I don't know how I can physically_ do _anything! All I have his this sixth sense…Wait._

Having a light bulb moment, Kyran extended his senses, attempting to flood his consciousness into his body. However the moment he slipped even a tiny bit of his sense into his body, he was forcefully repelled. His consciousness dimmed from the contact, and Kyran impulsively doubled back, however fast his floating form allowed him to. It wasn't as if he was scared, he couldn't feel fear. The reason for his act of self-preservation was because he wanted to do things, experiment. It was curiosity that drove him.

After retreating a safe distance (as far as he could tell), Kyran attempted to float his way towards his corpse again. Try as he might, he can't seem to close the distance, in fact, his body is drifting further away from him. Either that, or he is being dragged away by an unknown force. He really can't tell, his sense of orientation and positioning is non-existent. Strangely, he isn't the least bit frustrated, he just kept trying, like a robot set to a task.

A few more moments passed and he has lost his body altogether. Kyran, who should now be panicking, simply waited with a strange sense of calm. He didn't know if he'd have to wait for _the end of the world_ , or for an eternity, he simply waited. But he didn't need to wait long as he felt a sudden change in his senses. For a lack of better words to describe it, it felt like he was strengthened, and also felt lighter, like he could float faster and extend his ghostly senses with more precision and force.

His vision abruptly returned. Although it didn't ironically blind him, unprepared as Kyran was, it took a moment for him to get used to seeing again. Despite the shock, he was glad that he had a familiar sense back.

Taking a look around, he had expected to see water all around him, maybe even some fish. But what was actually around him was a forest bathing in the moonlight. It was dim all around, only tiny silver strands of light weaved their way through the thick canopy. Nocturnal animals and insects alerting Kyran to his returned sense of hearing, much to his relief. Investigating further, Kyran looked up to the canopy of the forest, and willed himself to fly upwards.

As he flew, Kyran felt somewhat disappointed. This was nothing like how he had imagined flying. Wind was supposed to rush at you while you feel your stomach drop from aerial dives. His heart was supposed to beat fast, pumping with adrenaline. Sadly, he didn't even have a body, much less a heart.

 _That's strange,_ Kyran thought. _I can feel again. My emotions are back._

Phasing through all the leaves and branches. He broke through the top of the trees without rustling a single leaf. He wondered where he was, he was in the ocean a moment ago. At least, he should be in Japan seeing as his plane crashed when he was about to land. He looked around for any recognizable landmark. _Maybe I can find some sort of civilization_ , Kyran thought. _Find out where I-_

All thought was halted in mid-formation as Kyran's eyes laid on the moon. It wasn't round, at least, not all of it. To be a bit more accurate, it wasn't completely intact. While it was mostly round, about a quarter of the moon was missing, maybe more. Instead, a gaping hole was in its place and shattered pieces of the moon floated near it's wound.

After a brief stunned moment of silence, questions flooded Kyran's mind. The most prominent one being: _Is the world ending?_

It certainly didn't look like it. The forest was lush and teamed with life, insects creaked along with other nocturnal animals that Kyran failed to identify. He couldn't believe how active the forest was at night. Even the sky looked normal. Well as normal as a sky with a cracked moon would look. It wasn't red or orange, or some other ominous colour unnatural for the night sky. So putting aside his questions for now, Kyran decided to explore to find his answers.

He looked into the distance and thought he saw lights twinkling. So he flew in that direction, hoping it wasn't just an illusion. After several minutes of flying, he heard what sounded like howling to his right. It didn't bother Kyran. So there were wolves in the forest, no big surprise there. He's dead anyway, they can't harm him. He kept flying towards what he hoped was civilization, but another sound stopped him completely in his tracks. There was a howl, but not that of a lonely wolf, it was more like a howl of pain.

From a human being.

More shouting were heard and Kyran had already bolted off to the origin of the commotion. He maybe dead, but he still has a human heart; metaphorically speaking. He would try to help even if he can't do much with his ghostly powers.

He arrived at a war zone. Well he thought it was a war zone given all the bushes that were torn from their homes. It looked as if this part of the forest had a very localized tornado that wrecked the area, leaving a perfect view for the moon's silver gaze. Dirt had been kicked up everywhere in the clearing, the stumps of trees raised in jagged spikes, evidence of being ripped off violently.

Impaled on some of the spiked tree stumps were the wolves. But they were no wolves Kyran had ever seen before. Masses of black fur covered them with white bones protruding out their arms and backs. Their shape was more like the fantasy werewolf than a normal wolf. Many of the downed wolves were giving off a black smoke, almost as if they were doused in acid and were slowly melting away. A few were actually half evaporated already.

Multiple live ones surrounded the area too, some standing on two legs, while others on all four. They all had a white mask on their face, like an exoskeleton. As they circled the area, snarling, the moon would glint off their masks, revealing red markings that decorated the masks.

If that wasn't a frightening enough visage, then their eyes were sure to do the trick. With no sclera whatsoever, an orangey and angry red glow bloomed from the eye slots of the mask. If the eyes were the windows to the soul, then pure hatred were the only things left driving these creatures.

As frightening as these creatures looked, Kyran couldn't help but stare in confusion at the center of the battlefield instead. A man was holding down one of the wolves with his bare hands and delivering a crushing blow down on the wolf's head. The man's body was giving off a soft orange glow. But even _that_ wasn't what had Kyran's attention.

Within this most extraordinary scene, Kyran's eyes only saw the young man lying injured besides the glowing man.

/* - */

Most of the time, Wyatt's idea of fun consists of going to bars around town trying to make new friends, mostly women. On those days, he'll be in his best looking clothes and would ask a reluctant Gahn to dress just as well. On other days, Wyatt would somehow find some underground street fighting circle. How he finds them, Gahn would never know.

Gahn would sit out on the fights, only watching from a corner, trying not to draw attention to himself. Meanwhile, Wyatt would watch, cheer, and sometimes participate and make a few winnings. Wyatt calls it investment for his next visit in town. Gahn, however, rejects the idea of coming to these sorts of places, but he always had Wyatt's back, just as Wyatt would always have Gahn's. Plus, being a martial artist himself, Gahn was always a little curious as to how other people fought. He's lived a life away from civilization after all. His curiosity got the better of him.

Today, Gahn finds himself wearing a nice blue shirt and black trousers. His shirt untucked, top unbuttoned, and sleeves rolled up to just below his elbows. He also had his collar up. He had it up not because he wanted to fit in with the city folks, or look 'bad-ass', as Wyatt puts it, but because his armadillo plating on his back extended to his shoulders and neck. He simply didn't like it when people stared. Like with many other of his kind, being a Faunus, being _different_ often brought trouble. But he can never change who he is. Wyatt apparently don't share his view, and would buy clothes to even compliment the black and orange colour of his tail. He would let his tail hang out freely too, almost as if showing it off.

Gahn's choice of attire today could only mean one thing: Wyatt and he were hitting the pubs. _It's better than hitting people on some other days we visited town_ , Gahn thought bitterly. He followed Wyatt without much enthusiasm as they made their way through the hustle and bustling streets.

Wyatt picked a bar that he heard was one of the best this side of town. They picked out their seats and waited for the evening crowd to fill in. They spent a few hours there, drinking and chatting. Well, Wyatt was. Gahn followed a different story.

Gahn was to be Wyatt's 'wingman'. Wyatt had explained to Gahn that he was to support Wyatt while he sweet talks the ladies. It was what he is doing right now, and he was at his very best: sitting behind Wyatt's big frame and trying to remain undetected. Being only 17 years old, he sipped on a glass of water instead of alcohol, trying to ignore the loud music booming above him. Wyatt himself doesn't seem to notice this, and was currently cracking a few jokes, even flirting a little with two women.

Gahn can hear the two women laughing, and rolled his eyes. Wyatt's been using that same joke for the fifth time this evening, which reminds him, they really should be heading back home soon. He was getting hungry too. Turning around, he tapped Wyatt's back, hoping to draw his attention.

Turning around, Wyatt asked, "Huh? Wassap Gahn?

"Oh let me introduce you. Ladies, this is my buddy Gahn," Wyatt continued, grinning widely, a hand around Gahn's shoulders. He gestured at the two women in turn. "This beauty here is Selena, and this other lady is Lime."

"Hey!" cried Lime, as if offended. "Aren't I a beauty too?"

"You're more like a cutie," Wyatt winked.

Getting tired of the meaningless back-and-forth verbal dance his friend was having, Gahn ducked away from Wyatt's arm, gesturing at the exit of the bar.

"It's time. We should go," said Gahn.

"Go? But we've only just met you," Lime pouted.

"I'm sorry, but we need to return home. Or we'll get in trouble with Master," Gahn stated.

"Gahn!" Wyatt whispered, quickly turning around. His mouth was still grinning, yet his eyebrows were frowning. "I told you not to men-"

"Master?" Selena asked. "You guys Hunters in training? That's pretty cool. What do you guys do?"

Seeing a golden opportunity, Wyatt quickly recovered. "Surely two lovely ladies such as yourselves wouldn't want to hear our _boring_ missions against the Grimm?"

"Grimm!? You guys fought Grimm before?" Lime chimed in. She jumped excitedly, hands clutched together in front of her breasts, drawing Gahn's eyes.

 _No!_ Gahn admonished himself, quickly averting his gaze. _Don't look, don't stare, don't even think about it._ The Master may have raised him to respected all people, but Gahn was still young and full of hormones that tripped his morals.

"Sure! We're actually about to go on another Grimm hunt now," lied Wyatt. "Sorry ladies. It has been a great pleasure meeting you. But as my little buddy here said, we've got a world to save. I'll tell you how it went tomorrow!" He said his goodbyes, still back-pedalling towards the exit. Gahn was already waiting by the doorway.

"Great! We'll be here same time tomorrow! Don't be late!" Lime cried after them.

With his back turned, Wyatt waved a hand in acknowledgement and walked out of the bar with Gahn.

/* - */

Wyatt looked up to the sky, noting the position of the moon. It's pale silver glow bleeding through the gaps between the trees above. Not that he needed much light, his Faunus heritage allowed him to see well in the dark. Insects buzzed and creaked all around him as he walked deeper into the forest. A little in front of him was Gahn, stepping in smaller and lighter steps than Wyatt's larger and heavier strides. Gahn moved with much more purpose than Wyatt, hoping to get home as soon as possible. Which reminds Wyatt, _Oh man Master's gonna kill me!_

They were probably an hour late already and won't be getting any dinner as punishment. The thought of food had Wyatt's stomach grumbling loudly. He was tempted to just go back to town and grab something to eat. But then he'll have to think of an excuse to explain why he was so late. Traffic in town? Perhaps a chanced meeting with Grimm? Traffic _and_ Grimm?

Well maybe not Grimm. The Hunters are doing a pretty good job so far so even people like him, who live in isolated areas in the middle of the forest, are moderately safe. There's also the fact that Master had apparently killed enough of the Grimm for them to avoid the area almost instinctively.

"Wyatt."

Gahn's calm voice shook Wyatt out of his thoughts. He looked up and realized that he's slowed down significantly while pondering. Gahn was now several meters in front, instead of a few feet, looking over his shoulder at Wyatt expectantly.

"Yeah. Uh, it's just that..." said Wyatt.

Gahn arched an eyebrow. It was rare for Wyatt to be so absorbed in thought. Actually it's surprising that he was thinking at all. So he waited for Wyatt to continue. Looking at Wyatt, he noticed a slight strain in his face. Like he didn't know how to phrase his next words. What could be so important? What could be so concerning that it has _Wyatt_ taking pause? Finally, Wyatt opened his mouth.

"Um, I just want to ask if we can go back and grab something to eat first. I'm really hungry," Wyatt blurted out.

Gahn nearly toppled over. _That's it!?_ Gahn thought. _That's what had him thinking?_ Gahn ran a hand slowly down his face. His brother was a mystery to him no matter how long they knew each other. All these years Wyatt's never failed to make Gahn's blood boil from his seemingly clueless actions. How can he be such a genius when it comes to social encounters, but at the same time be such an idiot whenever he interacts with Gahn?

"I'm not even going to answer that," Gahn dead-panned.

"C'mon dude! I _need_ to eat something! We'll just tell Master we had traffic problems," pleaded Wyatt.

"Not my problem. You should have thought of that before. You _knew_ we'd be getting nothing to eat if we're late, yet you still insisted we stayed," stated Gahn matter-of-factly. Then Gahn frowned, "Also, 'traffic problems'? Master's not going to fall for that. He probably won't even take that as a valid excuse."

"Well what about..." Wyatt hesitated for a moment, before finishing. "What about if we say we were fighting off Grimm?"

Gahn turned around fully, squaring his shoulders to stare straight at Wyatt. Wyatt himself sweated buckets, already regretting his suggestion. He realized too late that Gahn's patience had run out, and he was about to suffer Gahn's wrath. Gahn could be pretty intimidating despite being a full head shorter than Wyatt. Gahn's also the younger pupil under the Master, but many who's met the duo before had always wondered if it had been the other way round due to their personalities.

Wyatt tensed up, his tail stiffened and it's fur standing on end. He waited for judgement to be passed. However Gahn simply turned around, and walked, continuing home as if nothing had happened. Instead of feeling relieved, Wyatt only felt the tension increase exponentially. He hated this feeling more than if Gahn had just yelled and berated him for his faults.

Wyatt jogged up to Gahn and pleaded, "Hey c'mon Turt-" Gahn shot a sideways glare at Wyatt. "Uh I mean, heeey! Gahn my bud! Don't be like that. You know me, I'm hungry! I talk stupid when I'm hungry! Just forget what I've said okay? I'm sorry. We can be cool about this right? Hey buddy? Right, right?"

Gahn abruptly stopped walking, while Wyatt instinctively flinched and tensed up once again. He waited nervously for Gahn to speak, but Gahn was perfectly still. Too still. This would have unnerved Wyatt further if he had not noticed Gahn's darting eyes.

Wyatt quickly stepped back-to-back with Gahn, their previous squabble immediately forgotten. Now that he was more attentive to his surroundings, his eyes quickly picked out a few people. They were trying to hide in the dark shadows of the forest. They hefted solid looking pipes and wooden planks, clearly looking for a fight.

 _Well if they still don't know we've spotted them, then I should save them some time_ , Wyatt reasoned. Just as he was about to announce his vigilance, a voice rang out to his right.

"The bastard saw us already you _nitwits_! Fuck it, just attack!"

With a battle cry, what Wyatt assumed was the leader of the group of bandits, charged from the bush that made his hiding spot, brandishing his metal pipe. Two more people followed after him, carrying similar makeshift weapons. To Wyatt's front was the same scene as the last and he could only imagine that the same thing was happening on all other sides.

Wyatt had nothing to fear though, Gahn had his back. He could just wait here until they get close where their numbers won't impact the fight quite as much. They can't _all_ try to hit him at the same time. The angles are limited.

Gahn apparently had the same strategy for he stood absolutely still. He had his left foot forward, slightly bent, and had his left hand in an open palm in front of him to chest level. His right hand was rolled into a fist next to his chest. Wyatt himself just stood with his hands clenched at his side, a row of teeth splitting his face as he grinned an almost predatory smile. His tail waved in anticipation behind him.

The bandits drew closer, weapons held high above their heads, ready to strike. But Wyatt and Gahn pre-empted them, bursting into action at the same time.

Exploiting his opponent's uplifted arms, Gahn took a quick, half-step forward, twisted his hips and delivered a kick into the soft waist of the bandit. The bandit lost both his weapon and his momentum, falling into the path of a fellow bandit. The other bandit tripped over his comrade and held out his hands to brace himself against the floor that was rushing up to meet him. Instead of the floor, Gahn's knee quickly filled his vision before the impact completely knocked him out. The moment Gahn's knee made contact with the bandit, his attention had already switched to the other two bandits coming in from his left and right sides. Probably trying to pincer him.

While Gahn's fight started off with nothing but tactical engagement, Wyatt had simply stepped forward and caught the bandit leader's downward swing with one hand. The bandit looked up only to see Wyatt's grin widen further. Then his metal pipe was ripped from his grasp. Said pipe was quickly returned to him in the form of a swift smack to the side of his head, a muted metallic thud sounded on impact. He flew some two meters away, spiralling twice before hitting the ground. He was out cold before he even began his flight.

While attacking Wyatt on all sides was probably the most sensible tactic to go for, the bandits simple chose to stand still, weapons still raised. A mix of pure shock and horror were plastered on each of their faces. All except one, who felt very differently even after witnessing their leader's fall. She edged closer to the tiger Faunus, extremely cautious now.

Noticing this, Wyatt turned to fully face her, discarding the bent pipe he had previously appropriated. He rushed at her, faked a jab and followed up immediately with a punch with his full force behind it. Fortunately for the bandit, she reacted in time to shift her defence, moving the plank into the path of the punch. Unfortunately for the bandit, the wooden plank might as well not be there as it shattered into pieces. Wyatt's punch had followed right through her plank and into her cheeks, not even slowing down even in the slightest. As the bandit began her own personal flight towards a tree, Wyatt had already turned to charge the remaining two bandits, pressing the initiative ruthlessly.

The entire fight lasted about a minute. A minute and a half tops. Gahn finished his fight by using the momentum of the two bandits against them. He pushed one face first into the other while side stepping out of harm's way, kicking the bandit to add extra momentum, just in case. He'd rather the fight concluded as soon as possible.

Wyatt had caught one of his remaining victim's side swipe by the arm while kicking the other in the stomach. He twisted the bandit's arm outwards as he stepped forward from the kick, causing the bandit to drop his weapon and scream out in pain. The other rag-dolled away, unable to breath for the next few seconds. Wyatt released the bandit's arm, jumped and spun in mid-air and delivered a devastating roundhouse kick across the bandit's face. The bandit himself spun in the air before sprawling haphazardly on the ground.

As Wyatt's adrenaline slowly waned so too did his merciless grin. He turned around to check up on Gahn and saw him standing patiently, already done with his fight and was just waiting for him. He stood with an expression that was clear as day: what now?

Wyatt surveyed the groaning bandits that littered all around and an idea came to him. Locating who he thought was the leader of the group, Wyatt made his way over and knelt next to him. He shook the bandit awake, slapping him across the face for good measure.

The bandit jolted upright and instantly regretted it. His head throbbed painfully and the intense feeling of pain on the side of his face returned. "Uhg…nnng, wha-?" he moaned out in pained confusion.

"Alright pal, wakie-wakie. Here's what's gonna go down. I'm tying you up, and you're gonna be living behind bars for a little while," said Wyatt. "Following me so far Mr. Rob-'em-blind?"

The bandit still looked confused for a moment, before growling back, " _I'm_ the robber? _You're_ the one who's robbed me! I've lost _everything_ to you, you thief! Cheat!"

"What?" Wyatt looked bewildered for a moment before shrugging it off. "Oh don't try that reverse-psychology crap on me."

"Wait," Gahn's voice rang out behind Wyatt. Gahn strode up to the arguing pair to take a closer look at the bandit.

"The fuck do _you_ want?" the bandit bit out venomously.

Ignoring the bandit, Gahn turned to Wyatt, "I recognize him and you should too. You beat him in that fighting tournament you went to last week."

"Ah and so you're big idea of revenge is to come gang up on me." Wyatt stated more than asked.

"I was kicked from the arena because I lost that fight!" the 'bandit' yelled.

"Well, sounds like you're just a sore loser to me," Wyatt stated. "You win some you lose some. Get used to it."

"No! You cheated! You and your White Fang buddy over there! You aren't allowed in these fights! That's-"

The former underground fighter was cut off by a rough yank. Gahn had gripped the front of his shirt and pulled him within centimetres from Gahn's face. Gahn's pink eyes bore intensely into the 'bandit's' dull grey ones.

"Do not. Associate us. With the White. Fang," Gahn's voice was soft, but every syllable was pronounced unmistakably.

All the 'bandit' could do was nod slightly and gulp, clearly unnerved by the quick change of attitude. Gahn released his hold from the 'bandit' and he slumped back onto the ground.

"Well," started Wyatt, hoping to change the topic and clear the atmosphere. "At least we actually have an excuse to be late now right?"

Gahn closed his eyes and sighed. It has been a very trying night for him, but he decided not to get upset with Wyatt's blunder right now.

"Gahn."

Gahn opened his eyes to address Wyatt. He was about to ask what it was this time but paused. There was a strange nagging feeling from all around him. Like he was being watched. Soft growling and sounds of sniffing can be heard. Gahn and Wyatt said in perfect synchronization, "Grimm."

The sound of rustling leaves made the two Faunus spin around, catching sight of the leader of the ambush group making a break for it.

 _That idiot!_ Gahn thought. _He'll get mowed down alone out there!_ But Gahn didn't move to save him. There were many other unconscious bodies here to guard. Sure, they attempted to harm the two Faunus, but leaving them to die by Grimm? They aren't so heartless. Instead, he went around the bodies, shaking them awake and helping them to their feet, Wyatt doing the same through silent agreement.

Each of the members of the gang complied immediately when asked to wake the others, their previous confrontation forgotten in the face of the Grimm. Snarling and growling alerted them to the proximity of said Grimm, and with the help of the Faunus' night vision, they identified the Grimm as a large pack of Beowolves.

While the Beowolves were still adopting a wait and see attitude, Wyatt quickly came up with a plan. He explained to the group that they should back off together and stick with each other no matter what. Wyatt himself will try to punch a hole through the surrounding Grimm while Gahn brought up the rear guard. The gang promptly accepted Wyatt's leadership and Gahn nodded his approval.

The gang huddle in a group, some still had their makeshift weapons from earlier while others were barehanded. Gahn took his place at the rear of the group while Wyatt was already directing the group towards town. As he neared the edge of the Beowolf wall, he steeled himself. Wyatt clenched his right fist, all the while focusing his Aura on his legs, boosting his speed. His body started to glow orange, his Aura's signature radiating off of him. With one powerful leap, he launched himself into the thicket of Grimm. All his concentration of Aura were pushed to his right arm as he threw his fist at the snarling Beowolf in front.

As he made contact with the monster, a crack in the air was heard, like a miniature sonic boom. An orange shockwave also marked the point of contact while his fist followed through. The Beowolf was sent flying into other's of its kind behind him, none of them able to react to the speed and violence that Wyatt had wrought.

After landing with a roll and standing up again, Wyatt looked back and was relieved that the gang was still running. They weren't just standing around looking dumbstruck like Wyatt had half expected them to. Fear was an incredible motivator.

Wyatt stood and waved them through before stopping Gahn. But Gahn shook his head, already guessing Wyatt's intentions.

"Gahn-" Wyatt started.

"No," Gahn stated authoritatively. "We are not Hunters. We're just running to town with those guys and let the guards in the area do their job."

Gahn tried to stare Wyatt down with his vibrant pink eyes, but found a very fierce and determined orangey-yellow staring back.

"You and I both know that we're too far from the guards, and they won't make the run. The Beowolves are too fast," Wyatt said back. "If you're not holding them off, I'll be just fine fighting them myself." With that, he turned and charged the Beowolves, an orange glow outlining his body. With a pink glow outlining his, Gahn let out a frustrated grunt and joined the fray.

Gahn hung back a bit before fully joining the fight. He concentrated his Aura in his hands and legs. When he felt a large enough build up from within, he charged in with Aura enhanced speed and struck two Beowolves attempting to blindside Wyatt. Each Beowolf struck was propelled away at surprising speeds, tearing through the local flora.

Wyatt himself was grappling with another Beowlf. When he had a hand around its neck, he threw it at Gahn's direction. The makeshift projectile went over Gahn and slammed into another Beowolf behind him. The Faunus duo's eyes made contact for a split second, unspoken words of understanding and gratitude were traded. They returned to fighting the monsters just as quickly.

For four full minutes, the pair had stuck together, back-to-back, dodging, retaliating and defending each other with their Aura. The monsters were thrown all around the area and many trees were ripped in half from their impact. Many Beowolves occupied the same trees moments after as they were thrown back and were impaled on the jagged tree stumps.

Wyatt was faring a lot better than Gahn, as he had a deeper pool of Aura to draw from. Gahn, however, was already feeling the exhaustion and only used his Aura in defence to conserve his stamina. He could only try to use the Grimm's strengths and weight against them, but it wasn't very damaging. They weren't dispatched quickly enough and gradually, more and more Beowolves attacked in unison than he could handle. He was too occupied and there was no time to tell Wyatt in the middle of battle.

His fatigue soon caught up to him as he failed to block nor dodge a fully powered swipe from one of the Beowolves' claws. It ripped through his Aura, cloths, skin and then flesh, leaving four gaping slash wounds across his chest, and he was sent flying into Wyatt's back. He didn't even have time to yell out in pain as he crumbled onto the ground, already losing consciousness.

Turning around and realizing the state of his friend, Wyatt felt a surge of pure unadulterated rage. He grabbed the arm of the Beowolf responsible, shoved his weight into it while sticking his foot in between the Beowolf's. The Grimm tripped and crashed to the ground, held down by Wyatt's weight who now stood on top of it. The last thing the Beowolf saw was a fiery orange glowing fist.

Breathing heavily, Wyatt took a moment to steady himself. He felt despair creeping into his heart as he saw what looked like legions of wolves still around him. Truth is, there were only five or six more, but that's five or six more he didn't think he had the energy to handle. Gahn was also lying on the ground next to him, bleeding out fast.

As Gahn saw the world blur and dim around him, one thing in his vision remained very clear to him. He saw himself. A _human_ version of himself, radiating a pink glow very similar to his Aura. It floated towards him from above. There were no armadillo plating stretching up to his shoulders and neck, Gahn could see that even from the angle he was looking from. The phantom looked so normal, albeit being pink hued and translucent. Gahn wondered if he was hallucinating, imagining how he always wanted to be. The phantom Gahn drew ever closer until it filled Gahn's entire vision.

And they made contact.

/* - */

 **AN: Well that's it for chapter 2. You may have noticed that the pacing is a bit slow (maybe?) and things that has happened don't really have much to do with team RWBY's story yet. But I like taking my time and building up the world and characters first. It also helps me "stall" until Volume 3 comes out for RWBY. Then I'll get more lore and plot to base my work off of. I'm pretty sure this is going to go off canon, as fan fiction is inherently an alternate universe.**

 **Well anyway, I have to say I never imagined writing each chapter to be so draining and time consuming. It's especially hard when I'm trying to balance my personal life with writing as well. But I'll continue, and I hope you will continue to read too. Please leave a review if you haven't done so already. I'd very much like to hear your thoughts!**

 **Until next time.**


	3. Rebirth in Remnant

**14th September 2015**

 **AN: This is a significantly shorter chapter this time but I hope it doesn't affect the quality of my writing. This chapter is more of an information dump but I tried to make it a little interesting. So please enjoy.**

/* - */

 **DIRK**

Chapter 3 – Rebirth in Remnant

 **Wake up.**

And Kyran did. As he came to consciousness, his eyes struggled to open. As always, dryness stabbed at his eyes, making his eyes flutter involuntarily. _Why can't I open my eyes like any other normal person?_ Kyran grumbled. _Also, it's always so dry in every flight. Well at least the sleep was comfortable._

Kyran made to press the passenger button on the arm of his seat, reaching lazily without really looking. He found that he couldn't reach it, and waving his hand around, he couldn't find it either. Now a bit more awake, he could feel a few sensations that were confusing to him such as: why were his feet up and supported? He's supposed to be in chair which can lean back, and now that he thought about it, isn't he leaning back a bit too far?

Quickly rubbing the sleep from his eyes and blinking some moisture into them, he took his first look at his surroundings. He wasn't on a plane, that's for sure. Rather, he was surrounded by white walls and a white ceiling. He, himself was currently lying on a white bed. A few white machines stood beside the bed on both sides. In fact, everything was so immaculately white it was hurting his eyes even more.

Kyran felt an emotion bubbling inside him, like boiling water trying to get out of its kettle. He recognized the emotion, he felt it many times in his life, but he's always squashed it down; fear. Yes, he felt fear, but he'll never let it take control of him. He hated the loss of control over himself. He considered it weak to lose to fear, and he was sick of being weak.

So in a situation like this, even as he felt fear, fear of the unknown, he would divert his full attention in acknowledging it. Then logically break down his situation, just as he is currently doing now; observing his surroundings.

The bed, the machines beeping periodically, the immaculately white room, it all lead Kyran to believe that he was in a hospital. This conclusion calmed him somewhat. Being in a hospital and being awake with no pain means he's very much safe, and not in any type of danger. Although, an unsettling thought told him that this means he _was_ in danger. Logically, he would probably had been in a plane crash, although he remembers nothing about it. In fact, there were missing details about the flight itself and why he was on a plane. This fact nagged at him, but he dismissed it in favour of surveying his surroundings first.

Kyran's eyes wondered around the room once more. The room itself wasn't large. It had everything fit within its own space. It was a bit small, but cozy at the same time. The window to his left allowed plenty of sunlight to flood the room. Outside were other buildings, quite possibly the other wards of the hospital. The sun reflected off one of the windows of the buildings outside, shining through the window and illuminating the entrance to his room. Kyran took special note of the door as it stood out to him. It was a translucent glass door with no handle; Kyran presumed that it was a sliding door. The glass door would often have shadows passing by, but it would never reveal how the outside looked like.

Every time a shadow flashes by, Kyran would slightly tense. Until one shadow loomed closer than the others and stopped at the door. The person outside fidgeted a little before the door opened, revealing a woman nearing her thirties dressed in a nurse uniform. She was holding on to a clipboard and a transparent bag full of a watery substance.

The nurse took three steps before halting abruptly. She stared wide eyed at Kyran for a full second before quickly turning around and hurrying back out the door, leaving Kyran blinking in confusion.

Kyran spent the next minute contemplating his options, which he didn't have many. He was currently hooked to an IV bag and he didn't want to risk any damage to himself by removing the needle. As he sat and pondered, the door opened again. This time, a man in his mid thirties strode through the door. Without delay, he went straight to the some of the machines beside Kyran and began checking them and tapping a few buttons. He glanced and smiled at Kyran as he finished his check. Kyran himself was very still and looked warily at the doctor.

Perhaps sensing Kyran's anxiety, the doctor spoke to assuage his patient. "Good, you're awake," stated the doctor. "How are you feeling?"

 _He speaks English?_ Kyran wondered. _I thought I'd be in a hospital in Japan. Where the hell am I?_

Clearing his throat to find his voice, Kyran tested his speaking ability as he softly replied, "I…I think I'm fine. Nothing hurts at least." His voice grew more confident as he spoke. "Where am I? What happened to me? Wh-"

The doctor held up his hands in order to ward off further questions before answering.

"First, I would like you to remain calm while I explain to you your situation. Okay?" asked the doctor. Kyran nodded slowly in response, apprehensive about the tone and the way the doctor phrased his request.

"Alright," the doctor continued. "I am Dr. Paul Henderson and I have been in charge of your recovery for the past six weeks. You suffered from lacerations to your chest and abdomen, and had quite severe blood loss." Dr. Henderson took a breath before speaking again, "Your have been recovering steadily, in fact, now that you are conscious, all we need to do is run a few more tests, and for you to eat some real food before we let you go. So hang in there ok?"

It took a while for what the doctor said to sink in, but when it did, many more questions arose.

"Wait, six weeks? I was unconscious for six whole weeks?" Kyran asked, suddenly aware of how weak his limbs and core actually felt. The doctor merely nodded.

Leaning back, Kyran was reminded of the time he accidentally split his knee open while trying to jump over…something; he couldn't really remember. That split on his knee took six weeks to fully heal too. His right hand unconsciously crept to his right knee.

Kyran took pause as his hand felt where his scar was, or where it should be. Although he was feeling his knee through the patient pants he wore, he should still be able to feel the bump of the worm-like scar. But he couldn't. It felt normal and without the numb feeling that his scar usually provides on that area of skin. This was quite concerning to Kyran, how did his scar disappear? Did the doctor treat it somehow?

Remembering what the doctor said, he felt his chest and could easily trace three of the scars from the mentioned lacerations. They bumped outwards and ran as three distinct lines diagonally across his chest. A fourth line could be felt but was less prominent, running a little lower across his abdomen.

"Sorry, but wounds like these are bound to leave scars. We've tried our best to minimize it though," apologized the doctor.

"It's ok." Kyran said absentmindedly. It was weird that wounds this serious took the same amount of time to heal as the one that was on his knee. _Was_. Things just weren't adding up. However there were more pressing matters.

"What about my family, have they been informed about me?" Kyran inquired.

"Ah, they were waiting outside. I'll let them in to see you now." Dr. Henderson gathered himself and left. As the door closed behind him, Kyran saw the doctor's shadow linger for a little bit before merging with a group of other shadows. The door opened again to reveal a wild haired man, and an elderly man who looked to be quite spry. His posture told of a firm build, yet his eyes portrayed at least half a century of wisdom. He had his arms calmly folded behind his back, and Kyran felt compelled to be respectful to him instinctively.

 **Well respected. Powerful. Caring.**

The younger man beside him looked quite muscular in comparison, even if the elder of the pair already looked stronger than the average man. The younger man had wild, black hair, spiking up in contrast with his orange-dyed fringe. He also had an orange tail striped with black bands, waving slightly behind him, as if completely under his control. Kyran felt as if this person's an equivalent to a close friend, if not, a brother.

 **Friendly. Loyal.**

Kyran involuntarily shivered. He was confused as to why it wasn't his mother, father or his sister, yet looking at the two men entering the room he couldn't help but feel kinship with them. As if he's known them all his life. Even so, he couldn't remember their names.

"Hah! I knew you'd pull through Turtle!" The one with the wild hair exclaimed joyously, his grin as wild as his hair.

 **Annoying. Irresponsible.**

The elder of the pair gave the other a slap upside the head. "No thanks to your 'heroics'. The two of you could have been killed," he berated. Turning to address Kyran, his expression softened from the stern look he had, "But I am glad you are able to make a full recovery, Gahn."

"Ah…thank you. But I don't think I can remember who you are. I'm sorry what are your names? You two look familiar…" asked Kyran, confusion apparent in his voice.

The elder man's eyes instantly narrowed, while the younger man's eyes did the opposite. The room filled with an uncomfortable silence while the three people exchanged glances.

The younger man was the first to break the silence, "Oh! Oh you're funny, Gahn. You almost had me! Hahaha!" His laughter rang for a moment longer before dying down, realizing that no one had so much as batted an eye. The stifling silence reigned once again.

All was relatively still, the elder man scrutinizing Kyran with an intense stare, the younger man looking back and forth between Kyran and the elder man. After what felt like an hour, the elder man turned around and quietly left the room. But as he reached the door, he turned around and held up a hand to the confused younger man, signaling for him to wait here.

The elder man's absence left the two young adults looking awkwardly at each other.

"Um," Kyran began.

"You really don't remember me?" The younger man asked a little dejectedly. Much of his earlier energy seemed to have dissipated.

"Well, it feels as if I've known you all my life, but I just can't quite put a name to you, nor can I remember how we've come to know each other," Kyran replied.

"Gahn. I'm Wyatt. You can't remember anything at all? Anything we've done? We've known each other since we were kids! Please, just try and remember _something_ ," the now named Wyatt pleaded.

"No, my name is Kyran, not 'Gahn'. That's only part of my Chinese name. And the only people who I am friends with since I was a kid are…are…um." Kyran faltered as he tried to remember his past. He tried remembering the names and faces of his best friends but came up blank. He even tried people closer to him such as his family, but the result was the same. He could remember their gender and their relationship with him, but nothing beyond that.

Kyran felt panic struggling for control over his mind again. Much of his memories were missing. They were just gone. And no matter how hard he tries to reach for them, it only felt like plunging a hand into an ice-cold vacuum to grasp at an unknown object. Kyran continued to struggle against his amnesia, but soon felt light headed and an uncomfortable pressure began building against all sides of his brain.

Kyran gritted his teeth but made no sounds of discomfort. He held his head in his hands and slouched forward. Pressing his hands against the sides of his head, he hoped to alleviate the pressure that was filling his head. He shut his eyes and concentrated on his breathing, tensing his navel instinctively while focusing on a slightly tingling feeling all around his body. He didn't know why he did that, his body just did it, but it didn't help him. His breath quickened as the pressure intensified to painful levels and his entire body stiffened. Unbeknownst to him, his body gave off soft waves of pink which pulsed in time with his headache.

Alarmed, Wyatt took a step forward and reached out to Kyran, clearly worried. His hand didn't reach Kyran though, as he second guessed himself, not knowing if his physical contact would be wise.

 _It would be better if I called in someone who knows what they're doing_ , Wyatt decided. As he was about to rush out of the room, the door slid open to reveal the doctor from before. The elder man who left not five minutes before was standing behind him, hands still folded calmly behind his back.

The doctor rushed to Kyran's side and rapidly pressed buttons on one of the machines, seemingly at random. He quickly requested the two visitors to vacate the room just as a nurse arrived holding a tray of assorted medical items.

Outside of Kyran's room, Wyatt looked to the elder man, his Master, unspoken questions conveyed through his eyes alone. The Master bowed his head in thought before answering his student.

"If Gahn cannot remember himself, then he'll have to relearn his life. It may even be a blessing that he's forgotten his past," the Master said gravely.

"What!" Wyatt exclaimed, earning the ire of the surrounding staff and visitors in the area. Continuing in a hushed, but still clearly agitated tone, Wyatt said, "How can you say that so easily? As if we've just _lost_ Gahn and that's _okay_? He's still Gahn. He's _family_!"

"Yes. He will always be Gahn. But if he cannot remember, then what can we do but help him get his life back as best we can? We cannot change the past, never." The Master reached up and placed a reassuring hand on Wyatt's sholder. He looked directly into Wyatt's eyes and continued. "But we can always shape the future. What better way to do that than with a free mind clear of hatred from past wounds?"

/* - */

A week passed by since Kyran woke from his injuries. Wyatt and Master Gin visited him every day, patiently answering his questions on everyday life. Kyran had learnt that he was living in the kingdom of Vale, although his actual residence is a little farther out than the residential district. It is to the south of Beacon Academy, the most prestigious school for Hunters and Huntresses in Vale.

Hunters and Huntresses are those who fought the mortal enemy of mankind, the creatures of Grimm. They are monsters of many shapes and sizes, and had differing levels of intelligence. They are said to be soulless creatures, hell-bent on wiping out mankind. In fact, they were threatening to end mankind since the dawn of time and almost succeeded.

Kyran was told that they were the reason for his hospitalization. This confused Kyran as he thought he was in a plane crash. He asked about Japan, and Australia, and any other countries he thought to be familiar with, but received only confused looks. The doctor deflected Kyran's clams of the existence of said countries as fabricated information trying to fill the gaps of his amnesia.

It was soon revealed to him, that the world he lived in was called 'Remnant'. It wasn't this 'Earth' he thought it to be, and the moon of this world certainly doesn't look like the one he was used to.

He had trouble digesting a lot of this new information, although it didn't feel quite that new at all. He felt that it went against what he knew of the world and its history, but at the same time, he knew that what they've said was right. As if a voice was telling him so.

The two conflicting opinions in his mind clashed and gave him a headache, but thankfully, nowhere near as painful as the mental assault on the first day he woke up. On one hand, what little he originally knew felt natural to him, but the reality of the situation forced him to think differently. So he believed the doctor, and tried at every opportunity to correct his knowledge, even about himself. However, there was one piece of himself he couldn't feel differently about was his name. To him, he is and always will be Kyran, though he responded to people calling him 'Gahn' anyway.

He asked Master Gin about his parents. He knew he had a father, mother and a sister, but nothing more. The Master informed him solemnly that they have passed away a decade ago. Having no memories of his family, Kyran didn't think much of their deaths, although he thought it was weird. He felt as if they were alive and had known them to be alive even until his age today. He also found out he's aged seventeen years old; he had no idea.

Apart from the discrepancies within his mind, his body shocked him more. The first that caught his attention was the muscle mass he has and the detailed definition that described it. He was sure he remembered his body to have a higher fat percentage and a lot less muscle, not that he was complaining. And apparently, he's even lost muscle from his recovery too. In any case, he could move and control his body naturally and never used too little or too much force in anything that he did.

The second detail of his body was more shocking. The pink, leathery plates on his back that reached his shoulders and neck was something that was definitely out of the ordinary to Kyran. But yet again, he felt as if they were intrinsic to his body. When Kyran asked Wyatt about that, he gave an uncharacteristic pause before hesitantly answering. He told Kyran that, like him, Kyran was a member of the Faunus race, and that they weren't Human. Even more reluctantly, he told of the status of Faunus in the eyes of many discriminating Humans.

The Faunus, Wyatt explained, are a race of humanoid people who are mostly identical to Humans. However they are infamously known to have physical animal traits and excellent night vision. Wyatt told Kyran that he is, specifically, a Pink Fairy Armadillo Faunus, a very unusual type of Faunus, but a Faunus nonetheless. The plating on Kyran's back is his physical animal traits, and he had night vision as remarkable as any other Faunus. Kyran already knew about his night vision, after all, he's been conscious for a week now. And after a week of doing nothing but recovering in bed, more than anything, Kyran just wanted to be released from hospital.

Thankfully, after a final check up, Kyran was discharged from the hospital. His doctor advised him to still take plenty of rest, remain hydrated, and refrain from any strenuous activities. It was noted that his 'aura' was still fluctuating, but Dr. Henderson said it will soon stabilize as he recovers. That was fine with him as he wanted to learn more about the world he lives in. He also wanted to correct the fabricated facts that the doctor claimed he had conjured up unconsciously, and revert back to his 'old self' as much as he can.

And thus, Kyran took his first steps in another person's life.

/* - */

 **AN: Please follow this story if you found it interesting, and favourite it if you liked it. If it's not too much to ask, consider leaving a review as it will help me out a lot in improving my writing. Anything's fine. It could be things like pacing of the story, or the quality of characters, or my grammar and spelling, or even if its just a note on how you've enjoyed the story so far (or not).**

 **Anyway, thanks again for taking the time to read my story and giving it a chance. This is my first ever story, and I'm always looking to improve!**

 **Until next time.**


	4. Identity

**25th September 2015**

 **AN: Here's another chapter. I hope you enjoy. Please follow, favourite and review!**

 **/* SPOILER BELOW */**

 **Edit (2/10/2015): I've changed the interaction between Gahn and Blake a little to better explain future interactions.**

 **/* SPOILER ABOVE */**

/* - */

 **DIRK**

Chapter 4 – Identity

"Hey Wyatt!" Kyran called out over the rumbling waterfall in the background. He jogged over to where Wyatt was resting atop a boulder.

"Yeah wassup buddy?" Wyatt replied. He was on his back and was just looking at the blue sky. His eyes traced a few white wisps of clouds, embodying the very essence of relaxation.

"You told me that I've trained for ten years and you for nine, but…" Kyran paused, thinking.

Wyatt shifted his gaze to where Kyran was standing, patiently waiting for him to continue. He's used to this by now, answering Gahn's questions. He didn't mind it; in fact it seems to be helping Gahn regain who he was.

"What did we train for? I mean, why are we doing all this training every day?" asked Kyran. It has been two months since Kyran woke up in Remnant, and he has quickly fallen into his old (Gahn's) routine. It was definitely difficult at first, but it seems his body remembers what his mind could not.

Wyatt pondered for a moment, before looking back up at the clouds. "Hm…we didn't really train for anything specifically. It's just how we lived," Wyatt replied.

"Yeah. Master told me that I basically lived my entire life here," said Kyran. "I was orphaned during a large Grimm raid on my village. Master found me wondering alone near his house. He had no idea how I survived."

"Yeah. But what he _didn't_ tell you is what _you_ told _me_ ," Wyatt claimed.

"What I told you?" asked Kyran, confusion apparent in his voice.

Wyatt nodded and replied, "A few years after we met, we became close, like brothers. Well technically we're adopted brothers already, but had lives before that didn't include each other. So it took a while before we opened up. Ah but anyway…" Wyatt shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts. "…one night we decided that we would tell each other about what life was before the Master adopted us."

Wyatt sat up and shifted to the side a little and patted the space beside him. Kyran hopped onto the boulder before sitting down. He folded his legs into a mock lotus posture, with his feet below his thighs instead of above.

"Back then, you told me alotta of things, the food , the market, the people, the other kids…the food," Wyatt nearly drooled as Kyran smiled a little at his antics. "You also told me how frightful it was when the Grimm attacked. But you claimed you were saved, by a 'guardian'."

Kyran nodded in understanding, "Master was there and must have saved me."

"No," Wyatt shook his head. "You told me it was another boy who saved you. You told me that he would appear for a few seconds to fight fearlessly, then disappear, only to reappear again and fight. All the while he was glowing, like a ghost. As you got further away from your village, he would appear to run with you sometimes, but gradually appeared less and less. Your memory got hazy after that. Master saved you afterwards."

"Who was he? Actually _what_ was he?" Kyran asked.

"Donno. I haven't heard anything like that before. You could be traumatized and imagining things then," Wyatt suggested. "Sorry if this wasn't nice to hear."

"It's ok. I'm not exactly sure how I should feel about all of this," assured Kyran. "I mean, right now it just feels like I'm looking at my life from a third person point of view. As if I'm not the one living it. I just don't know who I am, or what we should do."

"What do you mean?" asked Wyatt.

"I mean, what do we do once we finished training? What's next? What are our goals? " Kyran wondered.

"Oh no," Wyatt whined.

Kyran frowned a bit at Wyatt's response and asked, "What?"

"You were always looking for a purpose. Last time you said something like this, we joined the White Fang," Wyatt said. "Look how that turned out."

"I'm sorry, 'white fang'?" asked Kyran, still frowning.

"Ah that's right," mumbled Wyatt, mentally slapping himself. "You know how I told you that a lot of Humans discriminate against us Faunus?"

Kyran nodded for Wyatt to continue.

"Well there is this organization that did peaceful protests to promote social and political equality for us. You thought it was a good cause, and so you joined up with them. I was bored so I came along to protest too. Plus, they gave us free lunches and on those days, we could skip training." Wyatt grinned cheekily.

"So…what happened? From what you've said, it sounded like we quitted for some reason," Kyran deduced.

"Yeah we did. It was about…seven? Eight? Yeah, eight months ago a new head took over White Fang. There were alotta of changes. They started targeting Human companies, stealing and sabotaging to both send a message and to strengthen themselves. The way we saw it, they were turning a noble goal into just plain vengeance," Wyatt sighed.

He looked a little tired from remembering their time in the White Fang but continued, "Their vision of the future got more and more skewed every month. Some of us left already, but we continued to stay, believing that the White Fang will right itself after the people started to take us seriously. I have to admit, the change got results."

Kyran raised an eyebrow at that.

"Don't get me wrong, their methods were bad, but you also can't deny how people are responding to us now. Anyway, part way through, I kinda liked being with others who won't judge us by how we looked. And I guess that's also the reason why you wanted to join in the first place. So we kinda just overlooked some of the stuff the other members were told to do. We did some bodyguard duties ourselves for some of the higher ranking members. We believed we were making a difference, protecting those who are good but targeted by the vile. Until a little over three months ago," Wyatt dramatically paused, although it was done unintentionally. He was actually debating if he should tell Gahn about this particular chapter of his life.

Kyran waited patiently for his brother to continue. However as he waited, it became increasingly obvious that Wyatt had become too lost in thought. He lightly nudged his brother to shake him from his thoughts.

"Uh wha…? Oh! Um where were we?" Wyatt blinked as he tried to remember where he left off. He decided that it would be unfair to not tell Gahn about his own life. "Oh yeah! So three months ago right? Three months ago we…"

/* - */

 _"Remember Wyatt,_ tail tucked in _," said an even voice from the front seat of the car._

 _"Yeah, yeah. Quit nagging me, Gahn! We've done this a million times," Wyatt exasperated._

 _A chuckle came from Wyatt's right. "Ah to be so young and full of energy," said an old man. He had a peaceful smile on his pale face and relaxed completely in his seat, his hands folded together on his lap. He looked so serene it could be felt in the atmosphere around him._

 _He was in a grey overcoat that covered his body and wore black pants. He also wore dark leather gloves and a dark blue flat cap atop his head. Wyatt would have thought it weird if he hadn't known that the cap was for hiding his horns. They were in a car after all._

 _"So full of potential, so raw, naïve even. But it is all part of living life is it not?" questioned the old man good naturedly._

 _"Yes sir," Gahn answered._

 _"Well I like the 'potential' part, but I'm not sure about the deal with being_ naïve _, old man," Wyatt's protested. "I'm twenty, I'm my own man."_

 _"_ Wyatt _!" Gahn hissed, turning a little in his seat to glare at Wyatt. His brother just returned an expression that said 'What? It's true'. Gahn then hastily apologized to the elderly man they were tasked to guard, "I'm really sorry for Wyatt's behavior, Mr. Sanctus. He means no disrespect. Please forgiv-"_

 _But the old man only laughed and waved Gahn's apology off._

 _"It is quite alright, my boy. I guess it is unfair for me to judge your knowledge of the world and its workings," Sanctus assured. "And there is no need to be so formal, um… Gahn was it? We have known one another for nearly half a year now. We are all one big family after all."_

 _"Thank you Mr. Sanctus," Gahn said gratefully while Wyatt rolled his eyes and looked out the window. The rain tapped against the window, obscuring his vision a little but he could still see clearly enough to make out the empty alleys of the industrial district._

 _"What are we doing here anyway?" asked Wyatt curiously._

 _"Wyatt, you know not to ask that," Gahn warned._

 _But again, Sanctus waved off Gahn's concerns. He seemed to be comfortable answering Wyatt._

 _"I'll be signing the agreement we were working on with the Schnee Dust Company. The terms may not be as favourable as we had liked, but at least some of us could get jobs, and we can get some income for the cause," Sanctus explained._

 _"That's good," commented Gahn, slightly relieved. "I'm glad we can still resolve things peacefully."_

 _Sanctus hummed in agreement, while Wyatt crossed his arms, still looking out at the buildings and factories._

 _After a few more minutes, the car slowed as they arrived at their destination. The driver nodded to her passengers, signaling that this was the place. Wyatt got out and stepped into the rain, not bothered in the least about the weather._

 _Gahn, however, opened an umbrella and quickly ran around the vehicle to Sanctus' door to escort him._

 _As they proceeded to enter the building, Wyatt couldn't help but notice how ran down this one was. It seemed the entire building only had different shades of grey for its colour palette. It was obviously abandoned, that much was evident as he entered and saw the state it was in. There were cracks in the ceiling and rubble strewn across the floor. It made him wonder if it was safe to be in a building that looked as if it would collapse at any moment._

 _He didn't understand why the meeting and agreement couldn't take place in one of the fancy Schnee Dust Company offices. Well it's not like he totally understood the city life, so he shrugged and followed at the back of the group. They went up two flights of stairs before coming to a stop in front of a door in the hall way._

 _Sanctus looked at the time displayed on a digital device, a 'scroll' if Wyatt's memory serves correctly._

 _"Looks like we're right on time," claimed the old man happily. "You two stay out here and watch the door. I'll be fine on my own."_

 _Without missing a beat, Sanctus knocked on the door. Gahn looked as if he was about to protest but the door cracked open a little. A pair of eyes peered at Sanctus with open suspicion._

 _"Mr. Sanctus?" asked the eyes._

 _Sanctus nodded softly and the door closed. Sounds of rattling chain could be heard before the door opened again to permit Sanctus to enter. The door closed immediately after that._

 _For the next five minutes or so, Gahn waited patiently, leaning against the wall next to the door with his arms crossed. Meanwhile Wyatt paced back and forth from the opposite side of Gahn to the stairs. If Wyatt strained his ears, he could hear the muffled voices behind the door when he was close, but he couldn't make out a single word that was spoken._

 _Suddenly, there were sounds of very rapid gunfire coming from behind the door. Thoroughly alarmed, Wyatt rushed at the door and kicked it open in a flying kick. He rushed into the room with Gahn behind him, Aura flaring incase stray bullets flew in their direction._

 _The interior was dim, the only source of light being the ambient lighting filtering through the thin gaps of the window blinds. Both Wyatt and Gahn's eyes adjusted quickly, but were taken completely by surprise at the scene in front of them._

 _Three bodies lay unmoving with blood pouring from multiple bullet wounds. One laid across the only desk in the room while the two others were sprawled on the ground. It was safe to say from the amount of holes in their bodies that they were already dead. Their killer's silhouette stood calmly in front of the desk with his side facing Gahn and Wyatt. He had an Uzi in each of his hands, still smoking a little, and had blood splattered on them, as well as across his grey overcoat. But he wore an ever calm smile on his face, which conflicted very much with the situation around him._

 _It was Sanctus._

 _"Well, well. It looks like our little agreement did not go as well as I have expected it to," said Sanctus nonchalantly. He turned and looked at his two bodyguards and remarked, "Aw do not look so horrified, the agreement can easily be…_ edited _to contain_ much _more favourable terms."_

 _Both Wyatt and Gahn took a step back as Sanctus spoke to them. Their faces adopted the look of pure shock and horror. They were so stunned they couldn't respond to anything Sanctus has said, nor did they react to his upcoming actions._

 _Placing his weapons on the desk, he reached over and plucked a still active scroll from the dead man's cold and lifeless grasp. For the next minute, which seemed like an eternity of suspense to both Wyatt and Gahn, Sanctus tapped at the scroll and ended with a final deliberate press. His horrifying smile only widened as he tossed the scroll carelessly back on the desk while reaching in his overcoat for his own._

 _He opened it and, through a series of taps, called in other members of the White Fang. Some filled in through the door while others continued up the stairs behind Wyatt, flooding every corner of the building. They brought in equipment of all kinds, but their functions failed to register in both Wyatt's and Gahn's minds._

 _Finally finding his voice, Gahn spoke, shock still evident in his voice. "What…? Why…?" was all he could muster._

 _A quiet chuckle silenced Gahn. Sanctus looked calmly at Gahn and sighed in a dramatic manner, "Ah to be young again. So full of potential, so raw…" His eyes scanned over to Wyatt before finishing his sentence, "…_ naïve _even."_

 _Sanctus took his bodyguards' silence as his queue to continue. "Let me tell you how the world works. In everything, there is a price. Whether it's the food you buy, the clothes you wear, or the people you help, or the people you don't. And yes, even oppression has a price," the last part of his sentence came out as a hiss. He spread his arms in demonstration as he said ominously, "And Humans are paying for it now."_

 _"No!" Wyatt exclaimed, his fists clenched. "What you're doing is wrong! You can't just_ kill _people to achieve what you want!"_

 _"Fool! If that was the case, then why does it not apply to Humans!?" Sanctus retorted heatedly. "This…_ corrupted world _will prey upon the weak, and will continue to do so if they let it. I for one_ will not _."_

 _"And so, what?" Gahn asked through clenched teeth. "You're just going to kill every obstacle until you get your way? Well why don't you just kill us? Because I certainly don't agree with your way of thinking!"_

 _Sanctus' eyes widened, but only for a second. Sighing, his calm demeanor returned to his visage, as well as his voice as he spoke. "Gahn my boy, there is no need for any infighting. You need to understand the truth of the world that you live in. For every action, there is a reaction, we are merely giving back to society," he reasoned._

 _But clearly, Gahn and Wyatt's reaction were still quite against Sanctus' actions._

 _Trying another approach, Sanctus began again, "Haven't you experienced the cruelty of the Humans? The discrimination, the unjust presumptions, the outright hostility that they have against you?"_

 _At that, Wyatt's and Gahn's expressions noticeably softened. But before the old man could say anything else, Wyatt's expression hardened again._

 _"Yeah, but those are only the idiots, and they are only a few of them. We can change all this_ without _the killing!" Wyatt proclaimed, taking a step forward as if for emphasis._

 _"If that is how you truly see it, then there is much you don't know about the current state of affairs," stated Sanctus, disgust clear on his face. "They may tolerate us. They may give us some rights. But it's all done to tide us over, to placate us. They will never look at us equally. Not unless we give them something to fear."_

 _There was silence for a while. Sanctus standing patiently, waiting for a response. Wyatt and Gahn standing rigidly while their minds waged war with Sanctus' concepts. Finally, Gahn came to a conclusion and broke the silence._

 _"I'm sorry, but I can't accept this. If this is how things are going to work in the White Fang then I quit," announced Gahn. Wyatt nodded in agreement and turned to leave. Nobody stopped them, allowing them to leave peacefully. However, before they could make it to the stairs, they heard Sanctus say one last thing._

 _"Fear is the key, Gahn, Wyatt. Protests can only go so far before you need to up the ante. I will demonstrate," Sanctus declared threateningly, though it wasn't directed at his former bodyguards._

 _Gahn and Wyatt continued down and out the building. As they exited, a girl who looked no older than twelve bumped into Gahn. The girl fell backwards but Gahn reached out and caught her just in time. The same can't be said for the equipment she was carrying. Although in a foul mood, Gahn decided to soften his expression and gave the girl a once over, checking to see if she was alright._

 _"Are you alright?" asked Gahn._

 _"I'm fine," the girl assured softly while looking back up at Gahn._

 _The girl, Wyatt noticed, is a cat Faunus, with yellowish skin, black hair, and black cat ears. However, the most striking thing about her was her amber eyes. They portrayed an innocence that only children would have. It complemented her everyday civilian clothes. Those eyes also spoke of wonder, currently switching back and forth between Gahn and Wyatt._

 _"Here," Gahn picked up the dropped device and held it up for the girl._

 _She took it with a slight smile before saying, "Thank you, Gahn sir."_

 _"Ahaha, no need for 'sir'. I don't look_ that _old do I?" asked Gahn, his tired smile fading a little._

 _"Sorry. It's just that, well you two are_ the _bodyguards of Mr. Sanctus right? A lot of us know you," the girl said, her voice holding a slight zest to it. "You look tired, like you've been through a lot," the girl observed._

 _"Yeah," sighed Gahn. "We," Gahn looked back to indicate Wyatt, "have had a bit of a disagreement with Mr. Sanctus. And so we're leaving…for good."_

 _"Oh…" murmured the girl, a little taken aback. "But you're_ Mr. Sanctus' _bodyguards!_ _You're_ famous _! Why would you leave?"_

 _Gahn looked to Wyatt for an answer, but he just shrugged. Turning his attention back to the girl, Gahn asked her, "What's your name?"_

 _"My name is Blake," she responded._

 _"Well Blake, I hope someday you will find out why we're leaving. And may that day be also one when you would be too," said Gahn._

 _Blake frowned a little at that, but made no other response._

 _"Goodbye, Blake," said Gahn as he stepped past her._

 _Wyatt gave a slight nod at Blake as he walked past her too._

 _They opted to take a taxi to get away from the place as soon as possible. Wyatt gave the address to a bar he knew near the commercial area. It was going to be a bit expensive getting to the other side of the city, but after a day like this, he's going to need a drink. Maybe this time he would be able to get Gahn to try the stuff._

 _A little after they caught their ride, a resounding boom echoed across the sky. Alarmed, they looked back and stared wide eyed at the building they were in just five minutes ago collapsing inward upon itself._

/* - */

"Damn…" Kyran commented, even more unsure of how to feel now.

"Yeah," muttered Wyatt. Shaking his head to rid himself the memories of that day's events, he jumped off the boulder. "Aaanyway. The past is the past. We've done quite enough talking for today. We should get moving and get back to Master Gin. Wouldn't want him to think that we were slacking off or something right?"

"Right," answered Kyran almost immediately and jumping off the boulder as well. The atmosphere got a little too dark for comfort.

"I'm racing you back!" Wyatt shouted, already jogging away.

"Hey! Wait up! That isn't fair!" Kyran cried, racing to catch up with Wyatt.

/* - */

 **AN: I hope you have enjoyed the story so far. Things will start to kick up a little over the next few chapters.**

 **I haven't gotten much response from you readers, so I think I'm doing something wrong. I really want to know what I'm doing wrong so please, post a review if you can and tell me.**

 **Until next time.**


	5. Lessons

**10th October 2015**

 **AN: This will be the last chapter for a while. I have my academic life to take care of so there won't be a new chapter until the end of the year. Then, there should be more chapters coming out at a faster pace because I'll be on my holidays. If you're unsure about the status of this story, you can always check my profile. I always keep it up-to-date with my writings.**

/* - */

 **DIRK**

Chapter 5 – Lessons

A very annoyed groan droned from Kyran's right. After spending a year with his childhood friend, he didn't even need to look to know what kind of face Wyatt is making.

"Is there a problem Mr. Wyatt Fear?" asked Claire, or rather Ms. Haber as Master Gin instructed the pair to refer to her as. She is a relatively new face to both Kyran and Wyatt, and is currently hired to be their general knowledge tutor to help with their academics.

She has a long blonde hair that ends in curls and a pair of hazel colored eyes. Her frame is average, but she is quite tall, almost as tall as Wyatt, who is ten centimeters short of two meters tall. She's currently wearing a dark office suit complete with high heels.

"Yes! Why do we even need to learn this?" Wyatt asked back, stabbing a finger at his textbook. The title of the book reads 'Standardized Intermediate Mathematics'. Kyran also has the same textbook, but is now closing it in order to pack it away.

"And why is Gahn allowed to get off early!?" Wyatt continued to whine.

"I've already answered your first question countless times Mr. Wyatt Fear, as I also have answered your second. Mr. Gahn Yoot has already completed the homework I have set last week", she gave Wyatt a slightly forced smile, "while you, on the other hand, have not. _Again_ ,"

Wyatt groaned once more, "Also, why do you keep calling me by my full name? Just call me Wyatt."

"It is considered unprofessional of me to address you with such familiarity, Mr. Wyatt Fear," Claire replied simply.

Wyatt rolled his eyes, "Claire, that's just stupid. I mean you're even younger than me! You're like, what? Seventeen? Eighteen?"

Claire's face heated up from embarrassment and anger as she began spluttering back a reply, "Wha-? Sev-! I'm twenty years old! And it's not _stupid_ , it's _conduct_!"

"Ah! So we're the same age. Come over here and have a seat then," Wyatt said as he pulled up Kyran's empty chair closer to his table. "Forget the stupid, formal stuff. Just teach me normally."

Zoning out the noise in the background, Kyran finished stacking his books and gathered his writing tools. He looked out the window of the study room and noticed that the sun is going to set very soon. The orange light of the setting sun flooded the horizon as the edges of the sky is painted with a captivating mix of blue, purple, grey, and red. The vivid colours reflected off the small pond outside. Birds of all sorts often come to rest at the pond, though at this time of day, they are already back in their nests.

Kyran felt relaxed at the sight of the painting like scenery. It is so nice to just enjoy the beauty of nature. Sure, there are dangers in the wild, but Kyran has learnt to defend himself and avoid such encounters throughout the past year.

Now that life has returned back to normal, or at least, that is the impression he got from Master Gin and Wyatt, he should be feeling at peace. But there is always something that unsettled him, like he is forgetting something important. However, he would pass it off as just something he'll remember in time and thought nothing more of it.

His eyes glazed over as he zoned out completely into the distance and thinking on his life. Then a sudden strong feeling of bitter happiness hit him. His environment warped from a study room to a small cliff surrounded by trees. The horizon remained the same, but he can feel the warmth of the sun more clearly. He can also feel the gentle wind caressing him, as if telling him it's okay to cry out.

/* - */

 _Gahn could feel and see everything clearly, from the individual strands of grass, to every hue of colour in the sky. A hand patted comfortingly on his left shoulder as he felt tears roll down his eyes. He knew where he was, why he was there, and who was next to him all the way out here. Following the length of the arm, Gahn traced it back to his brother and smiled his thanks. With a shaky breath, he looked back over the cliff side and gazed forlornly at where his village used to be for one last time._

 _He remembered where everything was supposed to be, where he played games with the other children in Frankie's garden, the market stalls where he would buy treats for his younger sister, even the less often visited parts where the 'boring adults' worked._

 _His eyes finally rested on the more secluded part of the village. That was where he lived, where his family lived. And he would never see them again. He felt as if his heart was stabbed by a knife and the cruel wielder of the weapon had also twisted it for good measure._

/* - */

"...right Gahn?"

Kyran blinked. The village was gone and the familiar study room had returned. He felt something warm and wet steeping into his shirt and looked down. The tears flooding his eyes briefly obscured his vision for a moment before falling down on to his pants.

"Gahn?" Wyatt was right next to Kyran, startling him a little. He looked up to find Wyatt looking concerned and searching Kyran's eyes for an answer.

"I-I'm fine," said Kyran. He quickly wiped away the tears and composed himself, though his breathing still shook a little. He took a steadying breath before saying, "Thanks Wyatt. For sneaking out to see my village with me."

Wyatt's eyes widened a little, but his expression quickly changed to one of realization. _More of him comes back every day_ , Wyatt smiled.

"Um," Claire began by clearing her throat to catch the duo's attention, not sure of what to say but still wanting an explanation.

Turning around to face her, Kyran and Wyatt looked back at Claire expectantly for her questions. The three continued to wait for each other until Wyatt finally understood that Claire had wanted to broach about the situation gently.

"Oh, uh…That was, um, Gahn's brain…thing…" Wyatt got out, scratching the back of his head, struggling to explain Kyran's condition.

Upon seeing Claire's confused expression, Kyran supplied, "Master Gin might not have mentioned this, but I've recently recovered from a near fatal wound." His right hand unconsciously reached for the scars on his chest.

"But because of that, I have amnesia. I've just remembered something about my past," Kyran finished, not willing to provide any more details.

Claire's look is one of surprise, but then it quickly turned to an apologetic one. "I'm sorry to hear that," she said to Kyran, who nodded in response. "Well it looks like it's getting pretty late, so I'll take my leave. Today's lesson is over Mr. Wyatt Fear," Claire glanced at Wyatt, who happened to be sporting a celebratory fist pump in the air. "However, I _do_ expect you to have finished the homework I gave you from last week by the next lesson. Do you understand?"

Wyatt's grin immediately faltered, but he still retained a small smile, "Yeah, I'll finish it, don't worry." He quickly changed the topic, "Here, I'll see you out the door."

"Goodbye Ms. Haber," Kyran said as he bowed.

"Farewell Mr. Gahn Yoot," Claire returned with a nod of her head before she was escorted out the house by Wyatt. Moments later, the sound of a car coughing to life could be heard before it faded away.

With his stack of books under his arm and his writing equipment in his hands, Kyran exited the study room and walked down the corridor to return to his own room. The next thing in his everyday schedule is the meditation with Master Gin.

 _Good_ , Kyran thought while stowing away this books and pens. _I'll be able to calm down and digest what I've experienced today_.

After waking up from his injuries, he had developed a strong liking to anything that promotes peace. To this end, he spends most of his free time in gathering information and improving his knowledge from reading books. According to Wyatt, that's how he was anyway, always liking the 'boring stuff'. Kyran also has an appreciation for the fighting arts too, but he would never go look for one. Maybe it was because of the Beowolf incident that he dislikes violence. Maybe he is subconsciously traumatized, but that wouldn't make much sense since he can't remember what had happened.

This reminds him, he still doesn't have many details on what happened that day and why both Master Gin and Wyatt have been dancing around that topic. Maybe it was partly due to the passive way in which he brought up the topic. Seeing as they were reluctant to shed any more light on the matter, Kyran had took that as a hint to also step lightly when speaking about the incident.

However, it occurred to Kyran that the answers he is looking for will not show itself no matter how patiently he waited, even after a year. And so he resolved to ask a bit more aggressively for the details of that fateful night the next time he got the chance.

 _No time like the present_ , Kyran thought. He would ask Master Gin just before meditation. With a plan in his mind, he made his way to the entrance of the training room.

As he reached the door, he knocked twice, waited a moment, before sliding the door open. He took a step into the room, bowed with his hands and arms firmly at his sides, and slid the door close behind him. Turning back around, the sound of a blade quickly ripping through the air caught his attention.

In front of Kyran is the moving form of Master Gin wielding a traditional katana with his left hand. He is flowing from cut to cut and striking out with the occasional thrust. Smoothly cutting the air horizontally in front of him, Master Gin cut from left to right with one hand while quickly sliding back. He then flicked the sword down and outwards to the side before sheathing quickly.

It seemed like the imaginary battle was over and Kyran made to approach his Master. Suddenly, he spun around while simultaneously taking a step back from the new direction and drawing his sword, instantly cutting down through the imaginary foe from shoulder to hip.

Flicking the imaginary blood off, Master Gin quickly sheathed his katana once more, although slowing down significantly during the last ten centimeters of steel. As the katana is finally sheathed, his sword hand released it's grip on the blade, and ran its touch across the length of the handle from the top and back around underneath it, as if to signify that the battle has ended.

Master Gin took the katana from his belt, sheath and all, laid it flat on his palms and bowed.

Sensing this as truely the end of his Master's routine, Kyran called out to Master Gin, "Master."

Master Gin's attention was on Kyran, though he did not speak.

"Master, I want to talk about _that_ day," Kyran said bluntly.

His Master gazed thoughtfully at Kyran for what seemed like an eternity before finally giving voice to his thoughts.

"They say only in looking to our past, can we more clearly define our future. Hm..." Master Gin nodded to himself. "Tell me. How do you feel about your life right now?"

 _Answering a request with a question? Not a good start_ , Kyran frowned. Nevertheless he answered, curious about where this will lead him.

Taking a moment to think on how to word his answer, he settled with, "Most times, I feel content. My Soul Fist training under your guidance advances every day, and I'm learning more about the world from Ms. Haber."

"And the other times?" asked Master Gin, his tone even and not betraying a single hint as to what he was getting at.

"Sometimes, I feel empty," Kyran admitted. "I don't feel as though there is a purpose to what I do."

"And it is precisely because of your drive to find a purpose, that I am reluctant to tell you your past," Master Gin explained, abandoning all pretenses. "If you were ever to find out too much too fast, you will find yourself warping your goals due to misguided reasons."

Having never really understood why his past has been kept from him, Kyran took pause upon hearing his Master's explanation. He trusted the Master's judgment and for as long as he's known Master Gin, Kyran knew that his Master was always looking out for him as a parent should. However, Kyran just wanted to know how he came to be as he is now. He wanted some bearing on his life.

So before his conviction wavers, he tries one last time to press for answers, "It's just that...I often ask myself why I have been given a second chance if I do not remember my mistakes from the first."

Master Gin didn't reply immediately, choosing to walk to the katana stand at the front of the room and placing his weapon down on it. All the while, even after he placed his katana, his head was bowed, contemplating. Folding his hands behind his back, Master Gin turned to face Kyran, apparently coming to a decision.

"By all accounts, you have the right to know. I'm just worried about your reaction. Very well then, let me be the first to tell you. First, you must understand the basics of the creatures of Grimm. Tell me, what do you know about them?"

"They are our enemies since the dawn of our existence," Kyran said automatically.

"Yes, but do you know why?" asked the Master.

Kyran shook his head.

"The creatures of Grimm lack a soul, something that we all have, even animals," continued Master Gin.

"Then it attacks any living creatures with a soul?" Kyran inquired.

"At first glance, that was what we believed at first," said Master Gin. Shaking his head he elaborated, "However, the Grimm seem only driven to attack _us_ , and very rarely attack animals. In such rare cases it would be for territory, rather than for sustenance or out of pure malice."

Kyran nodded for his Master to continue.

"We have found that the Grimm are naturally drawn to negative emotions. Fear, anger, jealousy, misery, the list goes on," Master Gin further explained. "You and Wyatt were both ambushed by bandits, and out here in the wilds, the negative emotions that were sure to run rampant can be easily sensed by the Grimm."

"So we were attacked by Grimm, because of the bandits? This is how I lost my memory?" Kyran couldn't believe it. He lost all his memory because of people who decided to prey on others. It is such an asinine reason to lose his memories over, and the more he dwells on it, the more resentful of the lawbreakers he became.

His emotions must be showing on his face because what Master Gin says next surprised him.

"While it is only natural to feel animosity towards the bandits, do not let your anger overrule your thinking. That is a course of action that will only lead you to more harm," said Master Gin, perhaps, from experience. "Besides, I feel I must share the blame for your misfortune."

Kyran blinked, his silent ire momentarily forgotten.

"Master?" Kyran asked, uncertain about his Master's claim. He wanted to ask more, but right now, Kyran isn't certain how or what he should ask. So he left the question ambiguously unspoken.

"Gahn, before I'm your Master, I am your father, and it is my job to protect you," Master Gin sighed. For the first time in Kyran's memory, his Master's shoulders slumped forward and his back bent, as if the years of physical hardship have finally caught up with him.

"But I failed," the Master said, regret clear in his voice. "I thought I had prepared you well enough, but I was mistaken."

"No," Kyran said softly. Then, shaking his head, he said more resolutely, "No, you can't place blame on yourself, Master. If anyone is to blame, it should be the bandits and the Grimm."

Master Gin however, didn't look convinced. But before either the Master or student could say more, the door behind Kyran slid open revealing Wyatt. Wyatt stepped into the room and as he was about to bow, the atmosphere of the room grabbed his attention.

"Uh...Is everything okay?" he asked tentatively, his eyes flicking back-and-forth between his Master and his brother.

"Yes," Master Gin said, straightening up. Then his eyes narrowed, "Where have you been Wyatt? You are late."

"Oh, uh, I was just um..." hesitated Wyatt.

"Stealing food?" Kyran guessed.

"What!? No!" Wyatt exclaimed. "I didn't steal food. I would nev-"

"Wyatt," Master Gin called. Catching Wyatt's attention, Master Gin tapped on the corner of his lips while looking at Wyatt pointedly.

Wyatt quickly brought his hand up to wipe the breadcrumbs off the corners of his own lips before replying with a simple, "Oh...Uh, thanks?"

Master Gin slumped and sighed again, though this time his expression is more resigned, rather than being one of regret. Kyran just shook his head disapprovingly at Wyatt.

"Alright, enough time have been wasted. Meditation is as important a part of Soul Growth as your other physical training," said Master Gin. "Take a seat, let us begin."

/* - */

Kyran hated these nights. These nights which consisted of following Wyatt around to underground fighting events of his choice, and this time, he found a new one.

They are currently walking down an empty alley to the fighting event but their topic of conversation is of earlier today.

"Look, all I'm saying is that it's as much my fault as it is Master's ok? Those guys were after _me_ , and then I stayed to fight instead of running like you suggested," Wyatt said.

"Alright, alright. So one thing led to an other. I'm getting tired of this blame game you and Master play. I'm not even angry at anyone any more. I just want to move on," Kyran said, exasperated.

"Are you sure you want to be dismissing this so easily? I feel so guilty about this. If it wasn't for me none of this would have happened. I mean we even waited a year before we told you what happened. Doesn't that bother you?" Wyatt asked.

"In the end, Master came and saved us, and I lived. And I'm remembering more and more of my lost memories. So what's past is past," Kyran waved Wyatt's concerns away. "Anyway, this is it right?"

They arrived in front of a metallic door. It is innocent looking enough, and it lacked the usual shady looking guard outside, unlike the other fighting circles. While wondering if they should knock or just barge in, a voice spoke up behind them.

"Well don't just stand there, are you going to go in or not? Idiots these days..." the voice said.

Turning around, they found themselves face to face an apparently short tempered man. Kyran instantly felt anger bubbling up inside of him. He knew this man, the memories of the night of the Beowolf incident returned in a rush.

"Get outta my way," he said, moving to the door and knocking it.

"Dude, chill out," said Wyatt to the man, getting out of the way. "There's plenty of people to punch inside and they aren't going anywhere."

The door opened with a click and a guard peered at the underground fighter. He nodded once and allowed him to enter, but before the man took even a step towards the opened door, Kyran's hand gripped his shoulder, forcing him to turn around.

/* - */

"Hey! What's the big id-" is all the man can get out before Gahn's fist greeted his face.

"Woah!" Wyatt exclaimed, alarmed at Gahn's sudden aggressive behaviour. "What's gotten into you man?"

"Him!" Gahn seethed.

"Yeah I know he's a bit of a dick but you don't have to straight up punch the guy. That's my job," Wyatt half joked.

"No! He's the guy who ambushed us that night!" Gahn all but shouted.

The victim of Gahn's wrath got up quickly, a bruise already fading into view on his left cheek. The look in his eyes told Gahn that he recognized him, but instead of retaliating, he bolted away immediately before Gahn could so much as blink.

/* - */

With the presence of the ambusher gone, Kyran calmed down enough to release his unconsciously clenched fists.

"Dude, are you okay?" Wyatt asked, clearly concerned.

"Y-yeah. I'm okay now. I don't know what came over me," Kyran said, a little unsure of himself. "I just got so angry all of a sudden. I-I overreacted."

"Yeah...It's probably all that tension you have from your brain thing-" Wyatt said before he was interrupted.

"Amnesia," Kyran corrected.

Ignoring the interruption, Wyatt continued, "Which is why I brought you to this place. So you can let loose...And also so I can earn some winnings for food purposes."

Just from hearing that, all of Kyran's earlier aggression left him completely as he resisted the urge to palm his face. At the same time, the metallic door slammed shut behind them. A muffled "We don't server your kind here!" can be heard from behind the door.

"Ah, so it's one of _those_ clubs," Wyatt said, a little annoyed.

"I don't get why there's so much problems with our differences. We're all people. Why can't people be like Master Gin, or Ms. Haber?" Kyran asked rhetorically.

"Well it's not really a problem for you right now, you didn't even want to go in there." Wyatt said.

"No, it's wrong no matter the reason. There should be _something_ done about it," Kyran said.

"Someth-? Oooh no. Nope. Not again, we went over this. We are not going back _there_ ," said Wyatt, alluding to the White Fang. "Didn't you hear me when I told you how things have changed? People go crazy there. There's too much tension right now for us to do anything anyway."

"I know how things turned out when we left, but Mr. Sanctus was nice enough to just let us go. Clearly he still believes that what he's doing is for the good of us Faunus and that he cares for us. Maybe we can persuade him somehow?" suggested Kyran.

"Dude, you don't remember, but the old man used to be the most peace loving guy there is. Wouldn't hurt a fly. He's always so kind to everyone and the kids loved him," Wyatt claimed. "He's the one who signed us up and welcomed us. But now, _all of them_ have gone to shit. The old man went crazy."

Wyatt took a deep breath before continuing, "Maybe he _could_ have had us killed and even _wanted_ to, but didn't. Because how would that make him look in front of the other members?"

"He...would lose authority and those who follow him would start questioning their own safety," Kyran realised.

Wyatt nodded, "He's crazy now, but he's smart crazy."

"Hey, _you_ are actually pretty smart too," Kyran said, impressed.

Wyatt's eyes narrowed, "Are you implying something?"

"No, I'm impressed. For all your failed attempts to complete your homework, you can actually use your brain," Kyran half joked.

"Hey! What the hell?" Wyatt cried.

"Maybe if we spent less time going out and concentrated a bit more on our studies, you might turn out okay when you look for a job," Kyran suggested chidingly.

Wyatt grunted in annoyance and crossed his arms.

"So, how about we turn around and go back home? I can help you with your homework," offered Kyran.

Wyatt, however grumbled something about fun and food.

"If you want food in the future, you'll have to get a job. You _do_ want a job in the future right?" coerced Kyran.

Wyatt turned his head away with his arms still crossed, sulking, "Fine...Let's go then- Oh hoho, now wait a minute." He turned back to look suspiciously at Kyran. "You're just tryna get out of this aren't ya? Oh nononono."

"What? No. I'm just trying to be the responsible one around here and get you out of the trouble that you're surely about to get into _before_ you do!" Kyran claimed.

Wyatt, however, remains unconvinced, "Nah, you can't fool me!"

"I'm serious! Let's go!" Kyran said, perhaps a little desperately.

"Leeet's just introduce ourselves shall we?" Wyatt asks rhetorically as he kicks door open. The poor door didn't even get a chance to strain before it buckled and flew off it's hinges. The guard behind the door can be seen sailing across the room and the entire interior of the underground scene fell quiet.

"Knock, knock, ladies and gentlemen!"

Kyran's face sank into his palms.

Kyran hated nights like these.

/* - */

 **AN: I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. It felt somewhat off to me, but I'll edit it later when I have more time. If you liked it please consider following and/or favouriting this story. And regardless of if you liked it or not, please consider leaving a review. That will really help me out. Thank you. Every chapter gets harder to write when no one seems to be enjoying it or at least finding it interesting. :(**

 **Until next time.**


	6. Soul Fist

**2nd January 2016**

 **AN: Took me some time to get this written and edited, but I think it turned out alright. Enjoy!**

 ** **Also, Chapter 1 has been edited quite extensively to up the quality of writing.****

/* - */

DIRK

Chapter 6 – Soul Fist

Throughout yet another year, Kyran and his family lived peacefully a little south from general civilisation. During this period, there were no attacks from either Grimm or outlaws. Aside from a few late night mishaps, courtesy of Wyatt's nightly adventures, all in all it was peaceful. Kyran and Wyatt continued their training in their family martial arts: Soul Fist.

It is a tradition of the Akers family to pass down the discipline and techniques of Soul Fist to the next generation. Even though both Kyran and Wyatt are adopted children of Gin, their father and master still passed on his knowledge as per tradition.

Soul Fist, as Gin teaches, is a martial art created during the Great War by his great grandfather. He and his circle of friends lacked any combative Semblance, and therefore, needed an alternative way to fight effectively in the War for individuality. They developed a way to push the limits of what a person can do with their Aura.

Normally, the Aura of a person exists within their souls, but lies dormant. With enough training or through the help of another who already has access to their own Aura, they can gain control of this ability. The Aura of a person can be used to both protect them from harm and sense imminent danger. Simply put, a person's Aura is purely defensive in nature. Gin's great grandfather sought to change that.

He and his friends developed a way to increase the potency and flexibility of their Aura. They built upon the art over a decade and that resulted in three signature techniques: Soul Walk, Soul Wall, and Soul Strike.

Through these techniques, he and his friends became a credible threat on the battlefield, even without weapons. At first, this may sound very powerful and would normally be adopted into any military discipline, but their way of fighting were ultimately rejected and dismissed. This is due to the amount of time to even just build up enough Aura potency to learn and use the techniques. It took the founders of this killing art at least a decade to master it, and that's too long to be a feasible path to generate warriors and soldiers. Soul Fist eventually died out, leaving Gin's and his ancestors the only ones with the full knowledge of the techniques. Now Kyran and Wyatt will inherit it and pass on their tradition to the next.

/* - */

Despite the high intensity of his training, Kyran has encountered another problem. Currently, he experienced spontaneous thoughts and emotions that are more intensive than usual. He initially thought that it was just his lack of self control, and had resolved to improve himself mentally through further meditation. Contrary to his thinking, it had only grew worse as the year went by.

Not only are his emotions amplified more frequently nowadays, he begins to sense a presence of something else filling in the back corner of his mind. Sometimes, it talks to him, asking him questions that he knew not the answers to, but most of the time, it would respond to the situation Kyran is in. In the most extreme of cases, it would even try to assume control in many tense moments like the time from the underground tournament that Wyatt would frequently visit. He would often jump into the fights while also dragging him along. In those instances, the voice would be angry, channelling its wrath towards Kyran's opponents, and leaves him helpless in his own body.

By this point, a normal person would have immediately sought for professional help, but Kyran intended to keep this issue to himself since he feels that he had already burdened both Master Gin and Wyatt enough. Furthermore, he suspects that the treatment to his problem would be rather costly which is what led him to his current location, in the city of Vale. He is looking for a part-time job. A decision which delighted Master Gin and simultaneously doomed Wyatt to go look for one too.

On the first day, Kyran found himself wandering around the streets of Vale alone and in the morning, which is a rare occasion in itself. As he crossed the streets, he suddenly realized that he didn't know what kind of jobs are available to him, or even where he could find them.

Cars swept past and people continued walking on without a sparing a glance at him. He never felt so faceless within a crowd of people in his whole life. In every other time he came to the city, it was with his brother. So he was never alone and had company. A loud company perhaps, but company nonetheless. Now? he is just another person on the street, and that strangely held a certain appeal to him. The anonymity provided a measure of protection, and even inclusion, something he always sought with the world.

"Hey, are you lost buddy?"

A voice suddenly shook him from his internal musings. Turning around, Kyran meets face to face with a man who looked around the same age as Wyatt. The man has piercing blue eyes under his dirty blonde hair that are styled to spike up and forwards. He has slightly tanned skin and currently donned an armour with light metal plates. The separate plates covered his shoulders, forearms, shins, and possibly his back, but Kyran couldn't see around to be sure. The most notable thing about the armour, is the greenish-blue insignia located on his left chest. It is shaped like the front side of a fist with a circle around it, almost as if it is trying to punch Kyran.

"Uuum, hello?" the man tried again to catch Kyran's attention.

Looking back up, Kyran apologised sheepishly, "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"You look a little lost," the man repeated. "Need any help getting around?"

"I'm not really lost, I'm just looking for a job." Kyran answered bluntly.

The man raised an eyebrow before saying, "Then...you're looking for 'Career Seekers'. It's just down one street and around the corner. Big blue sign, can't miss it." The man pointed down the street behind him.

Kyran nodded, "Thank you um... Mister...?"

"Don't worry about the name," the man dismissed but not unkindly. "I'm just helping you out 'cause you look fam-"

"Caito!"

The man was cut off by a shout, possibly calling his name. Actually it _should_ be his name since he is turning around with a look of irritation on his face. Kyran also turned to the same direction and saw a woman leading two men towards them, all wearing the same armour as the man next to Kyran.

 _Are they part of a private defence force?_ Kyran wondered to himself. Having been born further than most from civilisation, he will admit that he doesn't have a solid understanding of how cities usually work. Despite his limited knowledge concerning with Huntsmen and Huntresses, the military, or even about the police, he's quite certain that none of them have that teal insignia.

"What is it-", Caito paused. He then furrowed his eyebrow and pronounced carefully, "Zol...never-sandwich?"

Even Kyran could tell from the man's hesitation that he got the shouter's name wrong.

"It's _Zolnerowich_ , boy," the now named Zolnerowich spat disdainfully. Then, in a lower volume, he muttered as if the word tasted foul in his mouth, "Damn Americans."

He looked much older than anyone in the group, and had a much larger build. His bulging muscles seem to strain against his shirt underneath his armour which looked comically small on him. He stood head and shoulders taller than Kyran. He personally suspects that if Zolnerowich was standing beside Wyatt, they would be around the same height.

"Actually, I'm Australian… But my parents are from Italy though," Caito described himself idly, as if commenting about the weather.

Zolnerowich's face looked just about to explode, if the deep red colour was any indication.

Kyran noticed that whenever the big man spoke, it was with an accent that seemed to run words into each other. He remembered hearing it from somewhere before, but can't place when, nor where. There's also not much luck with the foreign words 'American', 'Australian', and 'Italian'. They certainly rang some bells, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it. His attention refocused on the scene in front of him as the other members of the group interjected.

"Joshua Caito, Mr. Zolnerowich, that's enough," the woman in the group said forcefully. "Now that we've met up, we should really continue with our mission."

"Please," added the remaining member of the group.

The woman turned to the man with an irritated look but the man just shrugged. With a huff, she turned back to face Joshua and Zolnerowich, but her expression became a little confused after finally noticing Kyran.

"Um, Josh? Who is this?" she inquired, gesturing at Kyran's direction.

"Just a turtle that delayed the _good leader_ ," Zolnerowich said casually, still glaring daggers at Joshua.

Kyran blinked, a little taken back from being called a turtle and tried to form an appropriate response in his mind.

" _Mr. Zolnerowich!_ " the woman gasped in appal.

"What? It is true! He is one of _them_. We should just get rid of him," Zolnerowich took a step towards Kyran.

Kyran tensed at the confrontation, but before anything happened, Joshua had stepped in between him and the towering man.

"Zolly," Joshua addressed the man in a serious tone, earning an irritated growl from Zolnerowich. "You know how I operate outside, I had been very clear. We'll do nothing unnecessary and if Gen wouldn't know about it, we don't need to carry out his craziness. Plus, we're in the streets!"

"Caito, you _know_ why I was transferred to your group. My previous group leader thought the exact same thing and look what happened to her!" Zolnerowich said feverishly. He then dropped the volume of his voice down to a near whisper, "There are eyes _everywhere_. He will _always_ know, and _I will not risk it_!"

With a speed that seemed impossible from a man his size, Zolnerowich shoved Joshua to the side and lunged for Kyran. Kyran, still thoroughly confused by these turn of events, couldn't get his guard up in time and could do nothing when Zolnerowich bulldozed him. He couldn't even let out a grunt, as the wind was knocked out of him. He was lifted off of his feet from the momentum as Zolnerowich had taken Kyran under his arm and kept running.

Shouts were heard, probably from Joshua and his group, but Kyran couldn't make out what was said over the rushing wind. He didn't care either, he was too busy struggling to free himself from the crushing grip around his arms and body.

There was a shift in momentum, where he could feel both him and his captor move upwards. There was a sudden jerk before they are suspended in the air. Kyran caught a brief glimpse of a rooftop before he was subsequently thrown head first toward it at breakneck speeds.

With barely enough time, Kyran reinforced himself with as much Aura around his body as possible and braced himself against the impending impact. He landed a split moment later with an accompanying loud cracking noise and tumbled away, eyes half opened, fighting the instinct to close it and attempted to re-orientate himself enough to land on his feet. As his momentum slowed, he twisted his body a little and focused his Aura to protect his legs.

The impact of the landing felt lighter than he expected, he'd taken far more severe punishment in his training with his brother and father. So that meant that he over compensated in protecting himself. It was a rookie mistake, he shouldn't have panicked.

The moment he landed firmly on his feet, his fighting instincts took over. His eyes quickly scanned around for Zolnerowich and took note of his current location. He appears to be on top of a building close to the edge. He wondered how Zolnerowich was able to get to the top of a building with him under his arm in such short amount of time. Blurred as his vision was, he can't remember being indoors at all. Did Zolnerowich run up the side of this building? That gives a hint about what level of control Zolnerowich has over his Aura since there's no other explanation. There is no way anyone can run up a building with just pure physical skill and strength. This also explains how Zolnerowich can move at speeds that were at odds with his bulk.

He quickly found Zolnerowich at the landing site where Kyran initially impacted the roof. The area was cracked and bits of concrete were jutting out of the ground. Zolnerowich strode towards him, kicking aside some of the loose concrete as he walked. For all the speed and rush from before, he advanced on Kyran rather slowly.

Kyran has no idea why he was suddenly assaulted. It could simply be out of psychotic rage given the emotional control Zolnerowich seemed to have, or lack thereof. Still, a person's a person, there should be a way to talk to him. He should at least attempt to reason with the aggressor or even just find out why he was being attacked.

"I knew I sensed a fighter in you," Zolnerowich called out. "But you're not a Huntsman," he continued to observe Kyran while walking. His face held no discernible expression while he talked, "Then you're one of _them_."

Kyran's hand twitched, he stopped himself from reaching reflexively for the back of his neck. He always ignored the budding enmity that comes with anything related to the White Fang. It is one of the favourite topics on the streets and it sometimes gave Wyatt and him a hard time. It always grated him how every time the White Fang was mentioned, people would try to surreptitiously glance at them or any other Faunus in the area as if they would suddenly attack.

Yes, he was a part of the White Fang, but he had quit when things got out of hand. At least, that's what he had been told. Strangely enough, whenever he thought of his memories, it never felt like his own. It was always like watching a recording.

By this point, he should be used to having so much internal confusion, given how much time had passed since the incident with the Beowolves.

Kyran mentally shook himself from his thoughts and refocused his attention on Zolnerowich, or more specifically, on his body language. Based on his observation of his movement, Zolnerowich was seen to slightly speed up before slowing back down again and his arms are also becoming more pronounced in its swinging. These minor indicators had told Kyran of Zolnerowich's barely controlled impatience. He can read him.

Kyran always had an easier time reading the intentions of other people. This talent felt more naturally like his own than his memories. He can see the lack of stability in Zolnerowich's mind and mentally prepared himself for any further sudden moves before attempting to calm the man down.

"If you are talking about the White Fang then you are mistaken. I am not one of them. I was merely asking your friend for direc-," Kyran cut off immediately as Zolnerowich charged toward him again with his inhuman speed.

But this time, Kyran was prepared. He abandoned all thoughts on a peaceful resolution and concentrated on the fight that was about to commence.

He identified the strengths and flaws of his opponent's attack which heavily relies on speed. It was used to catch his enemies unaware and put more force behind his attack. Combined with his tall height and the long length of his arms, his targets will be very hard pressed to escape from his grasp. But there's a noticeable flaw to such an attack, which is in the wide opening of his outstretched arms. Sure, Zolnerowich's bulk can probably take a lot of physical punishment and therefore allowing him not to care about any counter attack. He could take it and simply crush his target in a bear-like hug.

Kyran had analysed all that before Zolnerowich had taken another step in his charge. Unfortunately for Zolnerowich, his target is not a normal fist fighter, but rather a practitioner of Soul Fist.

Master Gin believes that, if one can use all three main techniques with enough skill, one can even match the might of Huntsmen and Huntresses without needing to learn of your own Semblance. Of the three main techniques that only those who are nearing mastery level can use, Kyran is most proficient in Soul Wall. It is a defensive skill, in contrast to Soul Strike which is about offence. The third technique, Soul Walk is used for manoeuvring. However, against an opponent like Zolnerowich, Kyran believes that using only Soul Wall is enough to feel out Zolnerowich's remaining capabilities.

As the hulking mass that is Zolnerowich came within only three steps away from Kyran, he took up his fighting stance and mentally concentrated his awareness in the "centre" of his body. With practised ease, he can feel a well of energy and channelled them to his left palm. He forced more into the same location, until he felt a familiar tension in his hand, a tightness that made his hand feel like it's made of steel.

As complicated as that might seem, this process lasted only as long as Zolnerowich had taken another step. Kyran pushed out his hand and let go of the hold he had on his Aura. Like a dam suddenly breaking, the energy trapped in his hand burst outwards violently, like a shotgun. It's outwards motion abruptly stopped and hung in the air, effectively creating a temporary wall. The air in front of Kyran distorted subtly with a pink tinge, looking compressed into an indistinct shape.

Zolnerowich had no chance to react as he ran head first into the wall of Aura. While the wall didn't look too tangible, or too visible for that matter, Zolnerowich's abrupt halt in his charge is a testament to its solidity. While he didn't immediately reel back from the pain, the sudden impact stunned him for a good few seconds. The wall was rippling from the collision, but soon the distortions faded, and so did the wall.

When Zolnerowich had collided with his Soul Wall, Kyran was already gathering Aura into his right hand, trusting in his skill in the technique and that the wall will hold. He charged enough Aura to reinforce his hand as he planned to punch with a force that exceeds his physical limit. Another portion of his Aura was simultaneously directed to his waist, enhancing the twisting motion to add further power into his punches.

Taking a step forward to even further maximise the lethality of his strike, Kyran's fist shot out like a cannon, driving deep into Zolnerowich's lower chest. Even with his mass and natural Aura protection, Zolnerowich was blown backwards with an accompanying cracking noise as some of his ribs broke.

As Zolnerowich was nearing the end of his arc in the air, Kyran suddenly felt his heartbeat quickened. He felt an inexplicable urge to rush in and press his attack. This was his chance, but it wasn't like him to be so ruthless.

 _He's_ _ **weak**_ _. Like_ _ **prey**_ _. It would be so_ _ **easy**_ _to just_ _ **END HIM**_ _!_ Kyran's thoughts were suddenly filled with aggression. He was about to follow through until he heard a small voice.

For a second, he looked about, confused. He couldn't pinpoint where he had heard the voice. Shaking his head, he decided to dismiss it as unimportant. He had wasted enough time already.

He turned back to his fallen opponent, resuming his intended plan.

 _Right, where was I? Oh yes..._ _ **my prey**_ _,_ Kyran didn't know when his face had warped to such a twisted smile. He didn't care either; he was in a position of power. He can exact his hate, the payback for-

 _For what?_

There it is again, a voice just at the edge of his hearing, but this time it was louder. Kyran could hear its words now.

 _I shouldn't kill. Not even him_ , said the voice as it grew stronger in his mind. _I can just walk away from this and leave this mess behind._

Kyran watched as Zolnerowich rose to his feet but paid only half of his attention to the large man. His thoughts are more focused internally as he struggled for control over his mind and intentions.

After a moment of desperate concentration, Kyran realised that the voice was his own. The more he listened to it, the less hostile he felt. He immediately held on to his voice of reason, as it were, resolute in his will to be the master of his own actions.

As he focused, he gradually regained control. A pressure that he didn't even feel was there before was lifted from inside his head. He knew that it was that same pressure that ignited his anger and sparked his violence. After all, this wasn't the first time his own mind betrayed him.

Kyran let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, relieved that he could hold on to himself this time. He silently congratulated himself; he hadn't been quite as successful in the past. His celebration was short lived as something massive filled his vision. Reflex took over as he tried to evade or at least turn his head to minimise the damage. He desperately threw up as much Aura to encase his body but it didn't provide much protection given the amount of time he had.

It is now Kyran's turn to sail across the sky, though he described a much larger arc than Zolnerowich's. Working through the pain, he turned his body as best he could. He needed to see the ground in order to time for his landing.

But to his horror, Kyran had turned in time to see the edge of the roof leave his vision. All he could see now are the busy streets below and the sides of other buildings. All of them are too far away for him to use to stop his fall.

Panic begins to rise within him, though not as much as it should have. If it comes down to it, he could just reinforce himself with Aura and shield himself from harm. The problem with that is that he'll definitely make a hole in the ground. Bystanders could be hurt from his impact, and it would be a colossal drain on his Aura reserves, leaving him almost completely empty.

Kyran wanted to avoid all of those situations at all costs so he cast his sight around wildly, hoping to find another way to land. As he fell ever closer to the ground, he traced his flight's trajectory to the ground below and saw what might be a way to escape from this trouble. Lining the streets are street lamps and he was on a direct collision course for one of them.

Kyran righted himself in mid-air and strengthened his legs with his Aura. As his legs came into contact with the side of the lamp, he kept pushing more and more Aura to the base of his feet until his pink Aura flooded out in excess. While the metal under his feet bent and groaned, the excess Aura acted as a cushion. Kyran shifted the direction his Aura expelled and aimed it towards the ground while still grinding his Aura encased feet against the side of the street lamp. It pushed his entire body up, slowing his fall. Although used unconventionally, this is another Soul Fist technique: Soul Walk.

The user of this technique can maintain their fighting stance while sliding across the battlefield. The Aura beneath his or her feet can be controlled to propel the user in any desired direction. They can effectively slide without needing to move their legs, opening up the options to use their legs for offence and defence at any moment on the move. Right now, Kyran is using this technique to arrest his fall and control his descent.

Even before he reached the ground he searched the area and skies for Zolnerowich. As he scanned the streets, he noticed that he's currently encircled by groups of people. There is a mixture of confusion and worry, but all in all, they were unharmed.

 _Good_ , Kyran thought, _I was lucky. Had that street lamp not been there..._

A glint of green caught his eye. Double-taking, he could make out a blur moving down the side of a building. The telltale glow of the Aura that was in use is unmistakeable.

From what Kyran can see, Zolnerowich seems to be using his Aura to glue himself to the wall while running down it. It's an interesting application that's a little similar to his Soul Walk, perhaps a primitive version of it. However, further analysis will have to wait. If Kyran ran now and blended in with the crowd, he may be able to lose his pursuer.

The crowd parted around him as he took off, cautious of the young man who just survived a fall from five storeys high and seemingly without a scratch. Kyran was thankful that they gave way, it would have been a lot harder to weave through so many people.

He took some turns at random junctions, but his general direction was to the nearest police department he could remember. Eventually he slowed down, not due to fatigue, but because running would attract attention which is what he is trying to lose.

After a few more turns, he is near the police station. He just needed to cross the street and report the attempt at his life.

 _Everything should be alright after that_ , Kyran's thoughts were racing. _Incidents like this can be tracked by the police right? Another way would be for me to defeat him, but then what? Would he come back? What if he saw me in the streets? I'll always be in danger as long as he roams free._

Making up his mind, he took a step towards the police station.

" _Psst._ "

Kyran paused. He really hoped that the discrete whisper wasn't directed at him, he had enough trouble as it is. He turned around nonetheless, but he couldn't find anyone. Both confused and somewhat relieved, he was about to turn back towards the police station when he heard the whisper again.

" _Psst! Hey, over here!_ "

Squinting, he could see peeking out from a side alley, a person waving at him.

" _I can help you._ "

/* - */

 **AN: Thanks for reading! As you can see, there's a bit more movement with the plot and I hope you've enjoyed it. Or at least it's kept your interest for the next chapter.**

 **Please review about my chapter, anything you like or didn't, even some suggestions if you want.**

 **Until next time.**


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